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THE CRANE CLASSICS 



THE 

COUETSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 



BY 



HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW 



WITH SUGQESTIONS FOB STUDY AND NOTES 



BY 



P. H. PEARSON, A. M. 

Professor of the English Language and Literature la Bethany Collet 



CRANE & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS 

TOPEKA, KANSAS 

1905 










Jl 



i9U5 






Copyright 1905, 

By Crane & Company, 

Topeka, Kansas. 



COE^TEN^TS. 



Introduction 5 

Suggestions for Study 14 

The Courtship of Miles Standish 27 

Notes 91 



INTRODUCTION. 



" The Couetship of Miles Standish '' deals with a 
supreme moment in the history of our nation, the moment 
when the harassed and thrice-winnow^ed little band of 
Puritans began to establish themselves and their insti- 
tutions on these shores. In the belief that the poem will 
be better understood and appreciated both as poetry and 
as history if some of the traits and the struggles of this 
people are called to mind, a few words regarding them 
will here be given. 

Though the sovereigns of England under w^hose auspices 
the movement known as the Reformation was carried 
through, severed connection with the Church of Rome, 
they did not bring about a thorough reform in matters of 
faith and church service. Hence there arose in England 
parties holding conflicting views regarding the correctness 
and propriety of the practices and ceremonies still in 
vogue. The Established Church still retained much that, 
in the opinion of the more radical element, should be re- 
moved. These differences of opinion exhibited various 
degrees of radicalism and conservatism. Those who were 
unwilling to conform to the regulations of the Church of 
England were styled " N'on-conformists," and, on account 
of their efforts in the direction of further purification, they 
became known as '^ Puritans." There were still others 
who believed in carrying the reform so far as to separate 

(5) 



6 THE CIlAj^E CLASSICS 

the clmrcli from the state, and to reach independence in 
church government: these were the ^^Independents." 

The Established Church was supported by secular au- 
thority, so that in all disputes it had on its side the king 
and the arm of the law. In many cases it exercised its 
power in bitter persecution of those who show^ed a tend- 
ency to depart from its teachings. The Puritans were, as 
one historian says, " pursued into their hiding-places with 
relentless fury," so that many individuals sought volun- 
tary exile, and whole assemblages looked for some place in 
far countries where they could worship according to con- 
science and to the light they found in the Bible. 

Such a party of persecuted Puritans chose as leaders 
one of their ministers, John Robinson, and their ruling 
elder, William Brewster, and resolved to seek refuge and 
religious liberty in Holland. This country was selected on 
account of its friendly attitude towards Calvinism, a 
view which harmonized with those of the Puritans; and 
also on account of the near relations which England as 
an ally of Holland sustained to this country. 

Their first attempt at leaving England (1G07) was an- 
ticipated and prevented by the magistrates; but the fol- 
lowing spring they made a second attempt, w^hich was so 
far successful that the officers of the crown succeeded only 
in seizing and detaining some helpless women and children. 
These were, however, later on set at liberty and permitted 
to embark. At first these Pilgrims, as they came to be 
called, settled in Amsterdam, but in 1609 they removed to 
Leyden, where their number was constantly increased by 
new arrivals from England. In Holland, though they 
gained the confidence and respect of the Dutch, their con- 



INTEODUCTION i 

dition was not entirely satisfactory. Brouc:ht up as tillers 
of the soil, they could not become entirely reconciled to 
the trades and handicrafts which they were now necessi- 
tated to learn. Moreover, they felt that the Dutch lan- 
guage could not become a homelike speech to them. There 
was also, deep in their hearts, a devout patriotism, which 
first led them to think of establishing themselves in some 
of the colonies under English rule. 

The first step, they saw, was to decide on a suitable 
locality in the ^ew World. After making such investiga- 
tions as they could, they planned to locate in the territory 
which King James granted to the Plymouth Company in 
1606. But before they were ready to embark, two other 
grave problems confronted them, and it took years before 
these were solved. 

Would they in the king's dominions be allowed religious 
freedom and be undisturbed in their worship ? Represent- 
atives of their congregation visited England for the pur- 
pose of trying to get the king's guarantee to this effect. 
In presenting their request they stated they were willing 
to promise " obedience in all things, active if the thing 
commanded be not against God's word, or passive if it be." 
They were disappointed of obtaining the pledge they 
sought ; and left with nothing more encouraging or defi- 
nite than an assurance that so long as they gave no offense 
they should not be disturbed. 

The other problem was that of finding the means nec- 
essary for the enterprise. After lengthy negotiations, 
during which several propositions were rejected as im- 
practicable, they formed a compact with some London 
merchants that had become interested in the American 



8 THE CRANE CLASSICS 

fisheries. These merchants, in return for services to be 
rendered by the Pilgrims, furnished money for the passage, 
stipuLating that all profits were to be "reserved till the 
end of seven years, when the whole amount, and all lands 
and fields, were to be divided among the share-holders 
according to their respective interests.'^ 

The two vessels that had been provided could not carry 
the entire congregation, and so it was determined that 
" the youngest and strongest who freely offered themselves '' 
should leave. Their head and leader was Brewster, the 
governing elder. Robinson, the spiritual elder, it was de- 
cided, should follow later with the others if the reports 
were favorable. 

After solemn fasts and worship, in which they invoked 
the blessing of God and commended themselves to his 
guidance, the Pilgrims set sail from Holland. They 
touched at Southampton, England, and a fortnight later 
started westward for the shores of America. The two 
vessels on which they were embarked were the Speedwell, 
of sixty tons burden, and the Mayflower^ of one hundred 
and eighty tons. After some distance at sea, the Speed- 
well was found to leak, and they were compelled to return 
to port at Dartmouth for repairs. After a delay of a 
week they were again under way, and once more the cap- 
tain of the Speedwell signaled distress, claiming that his 
vessel was not in a seaivoj'tliy condition. This necessitated 
their return to Plymouth; the Speedwell was abandoned, 
and such of her passengers as could be accommodated were 
transferred to the Mayflower. 

On the sixth day of September, 1620, the Mayflower 
with one hundred and two passengers besides her crew 



INTEODUCTIOIT V 

started alone. After a voyage of over two montlis tbey 
hove in sight of the sandy shore of Cape Cod, Massa- 
chusetts. Filled with the responsibility of their enterprise, 
they met in the cabin, drafted and signed the following 
solemn compact before going on shore: 

^^ In the name of God, Amen. We whose names are here 
underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign, 
King James, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France, 
and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, etc., having un- 
dertaken, for the glory of God and advancement of the 
Christian faith, and honor of our king and country, a voy- 
age to plant the first colony in the northern part of Vir- 
ginia, do, by these presents, solemnly and mutually, in the 
presence of God and of one another, covenant and combine 
ourselves together into a civil body politic for our better 
ordering and preservation, and in the furtherance of the 
ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute 
and frame just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitu- 
tions, and offices, from time to time as shall be thought 
most meet and convenient for the general good of the 
colony; unto which w^e promise all due submission and 
obedience. 

" In witness whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our 
names at Cape Cod, the 11th of November, in the year 
of the reign of our sovereign lord, King J?ime=?, of Fnglnnd, 
France, and Ireland, the eiirhtpenth, and of Scotland the 
fifty-fourth. Anno Domini 1620." 

In order still further to perfect the arrangements for 
governing the colony, they unanimously chose John Carver 
as their governor for one year. 

The season was already far advanced, so that it was 
about the middle of November before they had begim to 
explore the coast or to choose a place for the settlement. 



10 THE CEANE CLASSICS 

As the shallop was found to be in need of repair, Captain 
Miles Standish, Bradford and others, determined to ex- 
plore the country by land. Their first attempts to " spy 
the country" were made during exceedingly severe weather. 
" It snoAved and did blow all night, and froze withal." 
N^othing of an encouraging nature could be found along 
the beach nor on the fields, which noAV lay half a foot 
thick with snow. A heap of maize which had been con- 
cealed by the Indians was discovered. It was a welcome 
find, as it helped to eke out the scanty stores of the Pil- 
grims. It must be added that, though Miles Standish took 
this, he scrupulously resolved to pay the owners as soon 
as they could be found ; and six months later he found an 
opportunity to render payment. 

On December 8, shortly after their morning prayers 
were finished, the party was attacked by a hostile tribe of 
the ^N^ausites, " who knew the English only as kidnappers." 
Fortunately, the Indians were driven off without doing 
any damage to the settlers. The exploring party spent 
four weeks in searching for a suitable place. During this 
time they suffered greatly from exposure to the rain, snow, 
and sleet. Sometimes their garments were frozen stiff 
like coats of mail. It was often difficult or impossible to 
kindle a fire on the snow-covered fields, where the fuel, 
whatever they found, was damp and soggy. At one time, 
in the midst of a violent snow-storm, the rudder of the 
shallop broke, and also the mast, so that they were in 
extreme danger of being dashed to pieces among the break- 
ers. It w^as through these severe exposures that many of 
them contracted the diseases that carried away such a large 
part of them during the first winter. 



II^TRODUCTION- 1 1 

On December 11th the explorers landed on the histor- 
ical spot of Plymouth Rock. The Mayflower, shortly 
afterwards, cast anchor in the harbor. The men went on 
shore, and set to work to build houses and to provide 
shelter against the winter. Their labor was made arduous 
by the inclement weather, and by the fact that about one- 
half of the settlers were sick, some of them wasting away 
with consumption and lung fever. 

As protection against the Indians, who were occasion- 
ally seen hovering near, they formed themselves into a 
military organization, with Miles Standish as captain. 
Their relations with the Indians were, however, so fair 
and honest that even these must have observed some singu- 
lar differences between the Pilgrims and earlier traders on 
the coast. Early in the spring, Samoset, an Indian, vis- 
ited them with the view evidently of ascertaining whether 
they were disposed to form acquaintance and to establish 
friendship with his people. This led to a visit by the 
powerful chief Massasoit himself. He was received and 
entertained by the Pilgrims in a way that inspired his con- 
fidence, resulting finally in a sort of defensive alliance 
between the settlers and his tribe. He later on rendered 
valuable services, particularly by giving warning of the 
massacre planned by the N'arragansetts against the settlers 
at Weymouth. 

On the fifth of April, 1621, the Mayflower started on 
her return voyage to England. E'otwithstanding the hard- 
ships suffered by the colonists that first and dreadful win- 
ter, not one of them returned. As spring and summer 
came on, conditions improved. The streams abounded 
with fish and the forests with game. In the autumn they 



12 THE CRANE CLASSICS 

were again visited by Massasoit, and feasted him and 
ninety of his men. The N'arragansetts alone were not 
friendly. Their chief, Canonicus, sent over a bundle of 
arrows wrapped in the skin of a rattlesnake, thereby avow'- 
ing his intentions of war. Bradford sent back the skin 
stuffed with powder and shot; and it appears that this 
prompt acceptance of the challenge made the chief hesitate, 
for he became willing to sue for peace. This incident, 
which Longfellow has used, took place in 1622. Another 
incident also used took place the following year. One of 
the London merchants, thinking to increase his profits, sent 
over sixty unmarried men, who formed a settlement which 
they called Weymouth. These people soon found them- 
selves in want, and intruded for a considerable time upon 
the people of Plymouth. They were indolent ; they plun- 
dered the Indians, and these formed a plot to destroy the 
entire colony. But Massasoit revealed their designs to 
the Puritan settlers. These sent a force under the in- 
trepid Miles Standish, who succeeded in preventing the 
calamity. 

The Plymouth Colony and its far-reaching results have 
been depicted by every writer of American history. This 
sketch requires only that we present the general traits of 
the people and the merest outline of the incidents that 
Longfellow has brought into the poem ; it is therefore not 
necessary for the present purpose to folloAV the narrative 
further. 



" The Courtship of Miles Standish '' was published in 
1858. Longfellow has in this poem again made use of 
the hexameter ; but though it is the same metre as that of 



INTKODUCTIOK ' 13 

^^ Evan,2;eline/' it presents some important differences. 
AVith the purpose of modifying the stern Puritan mood, he 
has given the metre a lighter movement, which also harmo- 
nizes with the touches of humor occasionally introduced. 
As to the content of the poem, the author has used the facts 
and incidents recounted in the old Puritan records, and 
faithfully woven them into a true historic picture, a pic- 
ture none the less faithful because the poet has slightly 
deviated from the annals in the sequence of some events. 
Miles Standish, John Alden, and Priscilla are there giv- 
ing it reality by acting out the story — an old human 
story; but when these are allowed to drop out of sight, 
that which remains is the realization of a people, the 
Puritans, a people of indomitable determination and of 
uncompromising loyalty to conscience and to God. 



SUGGESTIONS FOE STUDY. 



HISTORY. 

The poem takes immediate hold of the events given in 
the early chronicles. The time when the story begins is 
stated only in a general way; but as the Mayflower began 
her return voyage April 5, 1621, the phrase, " In the 
Old Colony days,'' stands for April 4th of the same year. 
The names of the three principal characters are mentioned 
in Bradford's History of Plymouth, Plantation as names of 
immigrants on the Mayflower. In regard to the instance 
of the rattlesnake-skin challenge sent by Canonicus, the 
time of its occurrence has been shifted in the poem from 
January, 1G22, when it really took place, to the date when 
the poem opens. The incident is historical, and has been 
brought in almost in the exact form in which it is recorded. 
The real occasion for the Captain's expedition (488) 
was to rescue the neighboring settlement of Weymouth, 
which was threatened by the Indians in March, 1623. The 
chronicles mention the details of the encounter very much 
as given (745-815) ; also the trophy brought back by the 
Captain (818, 819). May 12th is mentioned as the date 
when the first marriage in the colony took place. The 
poet's description of the ceremony (936-939) is based 
upon Bradford's History: 

"May 12th was the first mariage in this place, which, 
according to ye laudable custome of ye Low Countries, in 
which they had lived, was thought most requisite to be per- 

(14) 



SUGGESTIONS FOE STUDY 



15 



formed by the mao;istrate, as being a civill tiling, upon 
which many questions aboute inheritances doe depende, 
with other things most proper to their cognizans, and most 
consonant to ye Scriptures, Ruth 4, and no wher found in 
ye Gospell to be layed on ye ministers as part of their 
office." 

These are the main incidents that form the groundwork ; 
but in addition to these there are numerous minor touches, 
names and facts from the old records, all which go to build 
up the narrative into a faithful historic picture. 

Such is the portrayal of Standish and his previous serv- 
ice in Holland. He had fought in Flanders (25) against 
the Spaniards (28) ; he had charge of the military organ- 
ization in the Colony (46-93). The Indian names men- 
tioned in 53 are found in the chronicles. The death of 
Rose Standish (136) is also mentioned. Other names 
and facts that in one way or another are matters of historic 
record are the ^' Psalm-book of Ainsworth," printed in 
Amsterdam (231, 232); the seven houses of Plymouth 
(392) ; Wat Tyler (415) ; the Elder and his Words (442, 
443 and 457) ; Stephen, Richard, and Gilbert (547) ; the 
Field of the First Encounter (606). "In autumn the 
ships of the merchants" (825) — this refers to the Anne 
and the Little James, which arrived in Plymouth in the 
autumn of 1623. "Still may be seen" (846): the de- 
scendants of Alden still own the lands where his house 
stood, in Duxbury. 

I. 

State what you can about the locality where the Pilgrims 
landed and settled. Give a description of it as you think 
it appeared to the immigrants in December, 1620. Could 



16 THE CRANE CLASSICS 

it have been an inviting place ? How does tills locality look 
in the spring, say early in April? 

11. 

State in what way the value of the poem as such would 
be changed if it were not connected with a historic event 
as momentous as that of the founding of the Plymouth 
Colony. What, then, besides the story of the three prin- 
cipal characters is there in the poem ? State, with reasons 
for your views, which you regard the more significant, — 
the story as such, or the historic picture it presents. 

III. 

Find details in the poem that you regard as particularly 
faithful to history. Find touches that illustrate historic 
statements like this : " The pioneers [Puritans] were rug- 
ged, strong, and inspired by an unshakable faith in their 
mission in the l^ew World." (People's History of the 
United States.) See, for instance, line 599. Point out 
several examples of the customs, habits, and views depicted 
that are historic in the same way. Quote lines portraying 
the religious character of the Puritans; their faith in 
their mission. Cite passages depicting the hardships of 
the preceding winter. Find strongly visualizing touches 
portraying their condition as settlers. Also instances show- 
ing their relations toward the red men. 

IV. 

What length of time is covered by the narrative ? Point 
out the events in the first and the last part that fix the 
time. What difference do you find if you take the actual 
history of the events as the basis for computing the time ? 



SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY 



17 



THE ACTION. 

The poem presents an artistically finished story, in 
which the action be^^ins with a statement of a definite 
issue, and moves on through complication and suspenses 
to a complete solution. Hence it is well adapted for the 
study of plot. 

Every carefully constructed story begins with the pres- 
entation of an issue so contrived as to seize upon and 
arrest the attention of the reader. Something of mo- 
mentous consequence to one or more of the characters is 
pending. The interests of the hero or the heroine are 
threatened by the interests of other characters. A colli- 
sion between two opposing characters is unavoidable. The 
hero steps forward and enters upon a career clashing with 
the traditions and customs of his surroundings. His am- 
bition sets up an aim and a purpose that cannot be attained 
without the risk of life or fortune. A struggle, at any rate, 
is impending and inevitable; and in the first situation 
of a well-constructed story the special nature of it is 
placed before the reader. 

At this point the action begins. It seizes upon the at- 
tention of the reader by causing him to project his thoughts 
forward in anticipation of the action completed, the solu- 
tion of the problem. As he follows the story his interest 
in the struggle is heightened by finding obstacles that 
challenge the very best powers of the hero and the heroine, 
and test to the utmost their strength and courage. These 
obstacles give rise to situations fraught with special points 
of interest, rousing curiosity or giving glimpses of char- 
acter or the secret workings of the soul which the com- 
posure of ordinary life does not afford. In the course of 
2— 



18 THE CRANE CLASSICS 

the story there are subtle touches or character hints which 
endear the hero to the reader. At this stage it is some- 
thing more than a struggle waged between comparatively 
unknown forces^ — a strong human interest is added, so 
that the reader conceives strong wishes and consumma- 
tions of his own with reference to the outcome. 

In a story there are several positions that determine the 
plot and mark the stages of the progress. These form the 
basis of its structure; and in the study of the plot they 
are very serviceable as points of departure. Thus we may 
recognize the point where we have sufficient introductory 
data to state the problem, or in other words, to formulate 
the issue. At what point do we feel prompted to wish for 
any certain kind of result to the struggle? What is the 
nature of the obstacles that aggravate and complicate the 
struggle ? Do they rise subjectively out of the hero's char- 
acter, or are they brought in through the counterplay of 
other characters ? At what point and through what occur- 
rences does the story seem to point to a definite outcome ? 
Through what means is the reader again led to entertain 
doubts and misgivings ? In what way is the main problem 
solved? Is the struggle ended so that we feel that every- 
thing involved in the issue is fully terminated? 

In lines 85 and 86, John Alden's hopes and desires are 
indicated, and we wonder. How shall he speed, and is the 
consummation to be such as he desires ? Another step is 
reached in 155, where the action is complicated by an 
obstacle placed in his way. At this stage we have an 
opportunity to note a bit of the writer's art if we observe 
the effect that this turn of events has. It certainly adds 
to the interest. But how ? In the first place, we are anx- 



SUGGESTION'S FOE STUDY 



19 



ions to know whether this obstacle will, against our wishes, 
cause the hopes of Alden to be frustrated. If we are in 
doubt as to whether it takes hold of us in this way, we have 
but to note that we are not content to leave the story at 
this point. In the second place, we are curious to know 
how Alden will acquit himself pleading with Priscilla 
in behalf of a rival suitor. And again, How will Priscilla 
receive the proffers of the Captain? The situation to 
which we immediately look forward has many elements 
adapted to seize strongly upon the reader's attention. It 
will primarily be momentous in the fortunes of the prin- 
cipal characters; and it will, further, have features that 
in various other ways interest people. Up to this point 
Alden's character has been developed in such a way that 
we are sure he cannot summarily set aside or ignore his 
promise to the Captain. The commission entrusted to him 
is bound to create a violent conflict in his mind between 
love on one side and friendship and conscience on the 
other. This conflict will be visually exhibited in the 
coming interview with Priscilla. In whatever way the 
interview as such terminates, we see that a series of in- 
teresting consequences must follow from it: as, for in- 
stance, Alden's report to the Captain, the mood induced in 
the latter, and his subsequent course of action. Again, it 
cannot pass without resulting in some sort of counterac- 
tion on the part of the other two, thereby giving rise to 
situations that will tax all their loyalty and resourceful- 
ness. 

I. 

What assurance have we that Alden will not attempt to 
ignore or evade his promise (245-248) ? In what way is 



20 THE CEAiq-E CLASSICS 

the situation made more intense by Priscilla's welcome 
(251-253) ? How does the preliminary conversation in- 
crease the difficulties of Alden's errand ? In the manner of 
deliverino; his message, is he influenced mainly by a 
sense of his obligation to the Captain or by the sentiments 
he entertains towards Priscilla ? What is the dramatic 
effect of his abrupt departure ? In what respect was the 
interview conclusive ? At the close of the situation do we 
feel that the difficulties in Alden's way are lessened or 
increased ? How did Alden seem to feel in regard to this ? 

IT. 

What part of Alden's report was the main cause of the 
Captain's wrath ? Had Alden anticipated the effect that 
his report would have ? How does the arrival of the mes- 
senger (426) affect the plot? Is the incident of the coun- 
cil a part of the main action, or merely an episode ? Why 
was it necessary at this stage that the Captain should be 
removed from the presence of the other two (484) ? What 
personal interests of the various characters are pending or 
threatened at this point of the story? 

In what way is the central action still in a state of sus- 
pense after the Captain's departure ? Show how the sus- 
pense is to be accounted for by the disposition and character 
of Alden. In what way are the occurrences that take 
place during the Captain's absence invested with interest 
(824-900) ? 

IV. 

What is the decisive moment in the story ? Explain the 
effect it will be likely to have on Alden and his course of 
action. In what way is the preceding situation a prepara- 



SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY 



21 



tion for this moment ? How does the poet make plain to 
us Alden's previous sense of restraint as well as his present 
sense of freedom ? 

Y. 

What is the purpose of the information given in 949 — 
^^ Long had it stood there," etc. ? What difference would 
it have made to one of Alden's disposition if the person had 
presented himself before the ceremony ? Could the action 
be regarded as quite complete without the reconciliation 
of all the main characters ? 

THE CHARACTERS. 

Miles Standish and John Alden are introduced to- 
gether, for the reason, no doubt, that the traits of the one 
may serve to set off those of the other. Miles Standish is 
a soldier by nature; and a lifetime spent in camp and 
field has brought out the soldier spirit in him in all its 
completenesss. The character of John Alden is less 
marked, though it is made sufficiently intelligible, first by 
his employment as scribe and correspondent of the colo- 
nists, which leads us to infer that he was better fitted for 
the occupation of the scholar than for the struggles of the 
pioneer; secondly, his youth and delicate complexion are 
mentioned, and we gather that his physique is not robust 
nor hardened. The Puritan predominates in John Alden 
as the soldier does in Miles Standish. The latter attributes 
the saving of his life to the good steel of the breastplate, 
while the former attributes it to a direct interposition of 
the Lord in slackening the speed of the bullet. We feel that 
if Alden had been left to spend an anxious hour or two 



22 THE CEANE CLASSICS 

alone, he would have turned for consolation to the Bible 
and not to " the ponderous Roman." 

The Captain is a man of strong personality and firm in- 
tegrity. He is an organizer of the colony's defense; his 
voice prevails at the council ; he is a resolute and able de- 
fender, who rises equal to emergencies of sudden and immi- 
nent danger. He is also capable of entertaining sentiments 
of tenderness (58-60) and magnanimity (949-973). 
Yet the author has indicated that, in the conventional sense, 
he is not to be taken as the hero. The personal description 
of him (11) points to this; so also his almost ludicrous 
inconsistency (36-115 and 163-168). His avowed affec- 
tion for Priscilla could not have struck deep roots in his 
heart, for only two or three months have passed since he 
sustained the loss that made his life '' weary and dreary " 
(36). Moreover, this matter could not have been upper- 
most in his mind very long, for he would then have 
observed that Alden had frequently gone on a lover's 
errand in his own behalf (252-258). Neither could his 
inclinations have been very ardent, for while Alden is 
gone he spends the hours without anxiety, absorbed in the 
campaigns of Ca3sar. He misunderstands and underesti- 
mates the sterling nature of Priscilla when he thinks that 
the winning of her is largely and mainly a matter of 
phrases (169) and elegant language, ''such as you read 
of in books in the pleadings and wooings of lovers.'' All 
this helps us to become reconciled to the Captain's dis- 
comfiture. 

John Alden is the most typical Puritan of the leading 
characters. His tendency towards a fatalistic view of 
life and to self -accusation seem almost too strans-e to be 



SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY 23 

accounted for by any doctrine or belief. As a Puritan 
he had been brought up and trained in submission to his 
elders, which may partly explain his lack of self-assertion. 
His position as a dependent in the household of Miles 
Standish made him more ready than he otherwise could 
have been to go on the Captain's delicate errand. There 
are situations in which w^e find Alden insufficient (182, 
558, 559). He has little opportunity, in so far that the 
part assigned to him is mainly passive. Yet there are pos- 
sibilities of stern manhood in him; and, with reference 
to the main issue, he is certainly strong in those very 
respects where Miles Standish is weak. 

Priscilla presents a contrast to the other two. She is 
full of healthy, joyous life, l^either the sternness of her 
associates nor the hardships of the pioneer life that she 
had experienced had been able to detract from her cheer- 
ful, buoyant disposition. During the winter she had be- 
come an orphan, and yet she appears to have been potent 
as a ray of sunshine amid the gloom and distress incident 
to the condition of the colonists. The fact that she is a 
trifle more frank in her conversation with John Alden 
than strict conventional form would require detracts noth- 
ing, but rather places her among such ideals of women 
as Miranda, Imogen, and Elaine. 

I. 

In the first eighty lines designate the means used in 
describing Miles Standish. Which reveals his character 
most effectively — the author's direct description of him, 
his talk, his weapons, or his books ? Are there any de- 
tails in this description that you would like to see altered 



24 THE CRANE CLASSICS 

if the Captain were to be the hero of the story ? The Miles 
Standish of history is said to have been thirty-six years 
at this time; in what direction has the poet changed his 
age ? Why ? 

II. 

Wliat position of authority does Standish hold in the 
colony? Why has the poet made him and Alden house- 
hold companions (15) ? What character- contrast in 
25-33 ? Why should the maxim of line 37 be reiterated 
(114) ? How does the Captain's inconsistency (164) 
affect the tone of the narrative? Is the reply in 168 to 
the point? How does the Captain's reliance on phrases 
and elegant language change our opinion of him ? 

III. 

How does line 398 square with lines 173, 174 ? What 
had been the Captain's state of mind during Alden's ab- 
sence ? What effects measure to us the degree of his 
anger after having listened to Alden's report ? What mo- 
tives induced the Captain to start in pursuit of hostile 
Indians (486) ? Does this expedition seem to have been 
most likely to insure the safety of the colony ? What evi- 
dence have we later on of the Captain's magnanimity? 
As he is not in the conventional sense the hero of the story, 
what purpose, from the point of view of the action, does 
he serve? 

IV. 

In the character portrayal of 1-86, which are the main 
points of contrast between Miles Standish and John Alden ? 
What appears to be the age of Alden ? In describing him, 
why does the author use more poetic terms (17-20) than 



SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY 



25 



he does in the case of Standish? Was Alden commis- 
sioned by others of the colonists to write letters for them ? 
What single fact makes clear the sentiments he entertains 
towards Priscilla ? Had they been acquainted before they 
left England? 

V. 

How can we account for Alden's yielding to the Cap- 
tain's request? \A^at other courses of action were open 
to him? "Then made answer John Alden" (181) — 
continue here, and in half a dozen lines write the answer 
you think he should have made. After leaving the Cap- 
tain, what motives hold him to the fulfillment of his 
promise (185-248) ? Was his blunt manner of delivering 
the message (288) deliberate, or was he so overcome that 
he could not do it otherwise ? 

VI. 

What exactly is the cause of his distress as told in 
339-342 ? Comment on the frankness of the report he 
submits. Should he not have attempted to explain and to 
set himself right? Interpret the mood visualized in 558, 
559. Does he seem to have a sufficient reason for " think- 
ing to fly from despair" (562) ? Would it be a better 
story if Alden had been given an opportunity for active 
heroism ? What in his character is most admirable ? 

VII. 

Did Priscilla belong to those Puritans that had lived 
for some years in Holland (269) ? What suggestions have 
we regarding Priscilla before lines 223-238 ? In the de- 
scription (223-238) what traits are made most prominent ? 



26 THE CEANE CLASSICS 

Explain in what respect her disposition seems to be in 
sharp contrast to that of Alden (293-338). At what point 
and under what conditions does PrisciUa's influence show 
itself most powerful ? What do we learn of her from her 
words in 667-680 ? At what point in the story and in 
what way is her character most exquisitely drawn ? Which 
of the three characters had passed throua^h the saddest 
experiences since the landing at Plymouth ? 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH, 



MILES STANDISH. 

In the Old Colony days, in Plymouth the land of the 
Pilgrims, 

To and fro in a room of his simple and primitive dwell- 
ing, 

Clad in doublet and hose, and boots of Cordovan leather. 

Strode, with martial air, Miles Standish the Puritan 
Captain. 

Buried in thought he seemed, with his hands behind him, 
and pausing ^ 

Ever and anon to behold his glittering weapons of war- 
fare. 

Hanging in shining array along the walls of his cham- 
ber, — 

Cutlass and corselet of steel, and his trusty sword of 
Damascus, 

Curved at the point and inscribed with its mystical 
Arabic sentence. 

While underneath, in a corner, were fowling-piece, mus- 
ket and matchlock. ^^ 

Short of stature he was, but strongly built and athletic, 

Broad in the shoulders, deep-chested, with muscles and 
sinews of iron ; 

Brown as a nut was his face, but his russet beard was 

alreadv 

( 27 ) 



28 



THE CRANE CLASSICS 



Flaked with patches of snow, as hedges sometimes in 
N^ovember. 

Near him was seated John Alden, his friend and house- 
hold companion, ^^ 

Writing with diligent speed at a table of pine by the 
window ; 

Fair-haired, azure-ejed, with delicate Saxon complexion, 

Having the dew of his youth, and the beauty thereof, as 
the captives 

Whom Saint Gregory saw, and exclaimed, " Not Angles 
but Angels." 

Youngest of all was he of the men who came in the 
Mayflower. ^^ 

Suddenly breaking the silence, the diligent scribe in- 
terrupting, 

Spake, in the pride of his heart, Miles Standish the Cap- 
tain of Plymouth. 

^^ Look at these arms," he said, " the warlike weapons that 
hang here 

Burnished and bright and clean, as if for parade or in- 
spection ! 

This is the sword of Damascus I fought with in Flanders ; 
this breastplate, — ^^ 

Well I remember the day ! — once saved my life in a 
skirmish ; 

Here in front you can see the very dint of the bullet 

Fired point-blank at my heart by a Spanish arcabucero. 

Had it not been of sheer steel, the forgotten bones of 
Miles Standish 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 29 

Would at this moment be mold, in their grave in the 

Flemish morasses." ^^ 

Thereupon answered John Alden, but looked not up from 

his writing: 
" Truly the breath of the Lord hath slackened the speed of 

the bullet ; 
He in his mercy preserved you, to be our shield and our 

weapon ! " 
Still the Captain continued, unheeding the words of the 

stripling : 
^' See, how bright they are burnished, as if in an arsenal 

hanging ; ^^ 

That is because I have done it myself, and not left it to 

others. 
Serve yourself, would you be well served, is an excellent 

adage ; 
So I take care of my arms, as you of your pens and your 

inkhorn. 
Then, too, there are my soldiers, my great, invincible 

army. 
Twelve men, all equipped, having each his rest and his 

matchlock, *^ 

Eighteen shillings a month, together with diet and pillage, 
And, like Caesar, I know the name of each of my 

soldiers ! '' 
This he said with a smile, that danced in his eyes, as the 

sunbeams 
Dance on the waves of the sea, and vanish again in a 

moment. 
Alden laughed as he wrote, and still the Captain con- 
tinued : *5 



30 THE CEAITE CLASSICS 

^•'Look! you can see from this window my brazen howit- 
zer planted 

High on the roof of the church, a preacher who speaks to 
the purpose, 

Steady, straightforward, and strong, with irresistible logic, 

Orthodox, flashing conviction right into the hearts of the 
heathen. 

i^ow we are ready, I think, for any assault of the In- 
dians : ^^ 

And the sooner they try it the better, — 

Let them come if they like, be it sagamore, sachem, or 
pow-wow, 

A spinet, Samoset, Corbitant, Squanto, or Tokamaha- 
mon ! " 

Long at the window he stood, and wistfully gazed on 
the landscape, 

Washed with a cold gray mist, the vapory breath of the 
east-wind, ^^ 

Forest and meadow and hill, and the steel-blue rim of the 
ocean. 

Lying silent and sad, in the afternoon shadows and sun- 
shine. 

Over his countenance flitted a shadow like those on the 
landscape. 

Gloom intermingled with light; and his voice was sub- 
dued with emotion, 

Tenderness, pity, regret, as after a pause he proceeded : 

^' Yonder there, on the hill by the sea, lies buried Rose 
Standish; ei 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 31 

Beautiful rose of love, that bloomed for me by tbe way- 
side] 

She was the first to die of all who came in the Mayflower ! 

Green above her is growing the field of wheat we have 
sown there, 

Better to hide from the Indian scouts the graves of our 
people, ^^ 

Lest they should count them and see how many already 
have perished ! " 

Sadly his face he averted, and strode up and down, and 
was thoughtful. 

Fixed to the opposite wall was a shelf of books, and 

among them 
Prominent three, distinguished alike for bulk and for 

binding : 
Barriffe's Artillery Guide, and the Commentaries of 

Caesar, '"^ 

Out of the Latin translated by Arthur Goldinge of London, 
And, as if guarded by these, between them was standing 

the Bible. 
Musing a moment before them. Miles Standish paused, 

as if doubtful 
Which of the three he should choose for his consolation 

and comfort, 
\Miether the wars of the Hebrews, the famous campaigns 

of the Bomans, '^'^ 

Or the Artillery practice, designed for belligerent Chris- 
tians. 
Finally down from its shelf he dragged the ponderous 

Roman, 



32 THE CRAITE CLASSICS 

Seated himself at the window, and opened the book, and 

in silence 
Turned o'er the well-worn leaves, where thumb-marks thick 

on the margin, 
Like the trample of feet, proclaimed the battle was 

hottest. ^^ 

Xothing was heard in the room but the hurrying pen of 

the stripling. 
Busily writing epistles important, to go by the Mayflower, 
Eeady to sail on the morrow, or next day at latest, God 

willing ! 
Homeward bound with the tidings of all that terrible 

winter, 
Letters written by Alden, and full of the name of Pris- 

cilla, *^ 

Full of the name and the fame of the Puritan maiden 

Priscilla I 

IL 

LOVE Al^D FRIENDSHIP. 

iN'othing was heard in the room but the hurrying pen of 
the stripling, 

Or an occasional sigh from the laboring heart of the Cap- 
tain, 

Reading the marvelous words and achievements of Julius 
Caesar. 

After a while he exclaimed, as he smote with his hand, 
palm downwards, ^^ 

Heavily on the page : " A wonderful man was this Caesar ! 

You are a writer, and I am a fighter, but here is a fellow 

Who could both write and fight, and in both was equally 
skillful!" 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 33 

Straightway answered and spake John Alden, the cornel}^, 
the 3^onthful: 

^^ Yes, he was equally skilled, as you say, with his pen and 
his weapons. ^^ 

Somewhere have I read, hut where I forget, he could dic- 
tate 

Seven letters at once, at the same time writing his 
memoirs." 

"Truly," continued the Captain, not heeding or hearing 
the other, 

" Truly a wonderful man was this Caius Julius Caesar ! 

' Better be first,' he said, ' in a little Iberian village, ^^^ 

Than be second in Eome,' and I think he w^as right when 
he said it. 

Twice was he married before he was twenty, and many 
times after; 

Battles five hundred he fought, and a thousand cities he 
conquered ; 

He, too, fought in Flanders, as he himself has recorded ; 

Finally he was stabbed by his friend, the orator Brutus ! 

'Now, do you know what he did on a certain occasion in 
Flanders, i^« 

Wlien the rear guard of his army retreated, the front giv- 
ing way too. 

And the immortal Twelfth Legion was crowded so closely 
together 

There was no room for their swords ? Wliy, he seized a 
shield from a soldier, 

Put himself straight at the head of his troops, and com- 
manded the captains, ^^^ 

Calling on each by his name, to order forward the ensigns ; 
—3 



84 THE CRANE CLASSICS 

Then to widen tlie ranks, and give more room for their 

weapons ; 
So he won the day, the battle of something-or-other. 
That's what I always say; if yon wish a thing to be well 

done, 
Yoii must do it yourself, you must not leave it to 

others!" "^ ''" 

All was silent again ; the Captain continued his reading. 

ISTothing was heard in the room but the hurrying pen of 
the stripling 

Writing epistles important to go next day by the May- 
flower, 

Filled with the name and the fame of the Puritan maiden 
Priscilla ; 

Every sentence began or closed with the name of Pris- 
cilla, 120 

Till the treacherous pen, to which he confided the secret, 

Strove to betray it by singing and shouting the name of 
Priscilla ! 

Finally closing his book, with a bang of the ponderous 
cover. 

Sudden and loud as the sound of a soldier grounding his 
musket, 

Thus to the young man spake Miles Standish the Captain 
of Plymouth: 125 

" When you have finished your work, I have something im- 
portant to tell you. 

Be not, however, in haste ; I can wait ; I shall not be im- 
patient ! " 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH *S5 

Straigiitway Alden replied, as lie folded tlie last of his 
letters, 

Pusliing his papers aside, and giving respectful attention : 

" Speak ; for whenever you speak, I am always ready to 
listen, ' ' ' 130 

Always ready to hear whatever pertains to Miles Stan- 
dish.'' 

Thereupon answered the Captain, embarrassed, and cull- 
ing his phrases : 

^' 'Tis not good for a man to be alone, say the Scriptures. 

This I have said before, and again and again I repeat it ; 

Every hour in the day, I think it, and feel it, and 
say it. ^^^ 

Since Rose Standish died, my life has been weary and 
dreary ; 

Sick at heart have I been, beyond the healing of friendship. 

Oft in my lonely hours have I thought of the maiden Pris- 
cilla. 

She is alone in the world; her father and mother and 
brother 

Died in the winter together; I saw her going and 
coming, ^^^ 

Now to the grave of the dead, and now to the bed of the 
dying. 

Patient, courageous, and strong, and said to myself, that 
if ever 

There were angels on earth, as there are angels in heaven, 

Two have I seen and known ; and the angel whose name 
is Priscilla 

Holds in my desolate life the place which the other aban- 
doned. ''^ 



36 THE CRANE CLASSICS 

Long have I cherislied the thought, but never have dared 

to reveal it, 
Being a coward in this, though valiant enough for the most 

part. 
Go to the damsel Priscilla, the loveliest maiden of Plym- 
outh, 
Say that a blunt old Captain, a man not of words but of 

actions, 
Offers his hand and his heart, the hand and heart of a 

soldier. 1^*^ 

Xot in these words, you know, but this in short is my 

meaning ; 
I am a maker of war, and not a maker of phrases. 
You, who are bred as a scholar, can say it in elegant 

language. 
Such as you read in your books of the pleadings and woo- 

ings of lovers. 
Such as you think best adapted to win the heart of a 

maiden." ^^^ 

When he had spoken, John Alden, the fair-haired, taci- 
turn stripling. 

All aghast at his words, surprised, embarrassed, bewil- 
dered. 

Trying to mask his dismay by treating the subject with 
lightness. 

Trying to smile, and yet feeling his heart stand still in 
his bosom, 

Just as a timepiece stops in a house that is stricken by 
lightning, iQO 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 



37 



Thus made answer and spake, or rather stammered than 
answered : 

" Such a message as that, I am sure I should mangle and 
mar it; 

If you would have it well done, — I am only repeating 
your maxim, — 

You must do it yourself, you must not leave it to others 1 " 

But with the air of a man whom nothing can turn from 
his purpose, ^^^ 

Gravely shaking his head, made answer the Captain of 
Plymouth : 

" Truly the maxim is good, and I do not mean to gain- 
say it ; 

But we must use it discreetly, and not waste powder for 
nothing. 

j^ow, as I said before, I was never a maker of phrases. 

I can march up to a fortress and summon the place to sur- 
render, ^^^ 

But march up to a woman with such a proposal, I dare 
not. 

I'm not afraid of bullets, nor shot from the mouth of a 
cannon. 

But of a thundering ' IN'o ! ' point-blank from the mouth 
of a woman. 

That, I confess, I'm afraid of, nor am I ashamed to con- 
fess it ! 

So you must grant my request, for you are an elegant 
scholar, ^^^ 

Having the graces of speech, and skill in the turning of 
phrases." 



38 THE CRANE CLASSICS 

Taking the hand of his friend, who still was reluctant and 
doubtful, 

Holding it long in his own, and pressing it kindly, he 
added : 

"' Though I have spoken thus lightly, yet deep is the feel- 
ing that prompts me; 

Surely you cannot refuse what I ask in the name of our 
friendship!" '"" 

Then made answer John Alden : " The name of friend- 
ship is sacred ; 

What you demand in that name, I have not the ])ower to 
deny you ! " 

So the strong will prevailed, subduing and molding the 
gentler, 

Friendship prevailed over love, and Alden went on his 
errand. 

III. 

THE LOVEP/S ERRAND. 

So the strong will prevailed, and Alden went on his 
errand, ^^^ 

Out of the street of the village, and into the paths of the 
forest. 

Into the tranquil woods, where bluebirds and robins were 
building 

Towns in the populous trees, with hanging gardens of 
verdure. 

Peaceful, aerial cities of joy and affection and freedom. 

All around him was calm, but within him commotion and 
conflict, i9<^ 

Love contending with friendship, and self with each gen- 
erous impulse. 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 39 

To and fro in his breast his thoughts were heaving and 
dashing, 

As in a foundering ship, with every roll of the vessel, 

Washes the bitter sea, the merciless surge of the ocean ! 

'' Must I relinquish it all," he cried with a wild lamen- 
tation, — ^^^ 

'"' Must I relinquish it all, the joy, the hope, the illusion ? 

Was it for this I have loved, and waited, and worshiped 
in silence ? 

Was it for this I have followed the flying feet and the 
shadow 

Over the wintry sea, to the desolate shores of 'New Eng- 
land? 

Truly the heart is deceitful, and out of its depths of cor- 
ruption ^^^ 

Else, like an exhalation, the misty phantoms of passion; 

Angels of light they seem, but are only delusions of Satan. 

All is clear to me now ; I feel it, I see it distinctly ! 

This is the hand of the Lord ; it is laid upon me in anger, 

For I have followed too much the heart's desires and de- 

205 

vices, 

Worshiping Astaroth blindly, and impious idols of Baal. 

This is the cross I must bear; the sin and the swift re- 
tribution." 

So through the Plymouth woods John Alden went on 

his errand; 
Crossing the brook at the ford, where it brawled over 

pebble and shallow, 
Gathering still, as he went, the mayflowers blooming 

around him, ^^^ 



40 THE CKANE CLASSICS 

Fragrant, filling tlie air with a strange and wonderful 

sweetness, 
Children lost in the woods, and covered with leaves in 

their slumber. 
" Puritan flowers," he said, " and the type of Puritan 

maidens. 
Modest and simple and sweet, the very type of Priscilla ! 
So I will take them to her ; to Priscilla the mayflower of 

Plymouth, "'" 

Modest and simple and sweet, as a parting gift will I take 

them ; 
Breathing their silent farewells, as they fade and wither 

and perish, 
Soon to be thrown away as is the heart of the giver." 
So through the Plymouth woods John Alden went on his 

errand ; 
Came to an open space, and saw the disk of the ocean, 
Sailless, somber and cold with the comfortless breath of 

the east-wind ; ^^^ 

Saw the new-built house, and people at work in a meadow ; 
Heard, as he drew near the door, the musical voice of 

Priscilla 
Singing the hundredth Psalm, the grand old Puritan an- 
them, 
Music that Luther sang to the sacred words of the Psalm- 
ist, ' 225 
Pull of the breath of the Lord, consoling and comforting 

many. 
Then, as he opened the door, he beheld the form of the 

maiden v 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 41 

Seated beside lier wheel, and the carded wool like a snow- 
drift 

Piled at her knee, her white hands feeding the ravenous 
spindle, 

While with her foot on the treadle she guided the wheel 
in its motion. ^^^ 

Open wide on her lap lay the w^ell-worn psalm-book of 
Ainsworth, 

Printed in Amsterdam, the words and the music together. 

Rough-hewn, angular notes, like stones in the w^all of a 
churchyard, 

Darkened and overhung by the running vine of the verses. 

Such was the book from whose pages she sang the old 
Puritan anthem, ^^^ 

She, the Puritan girl, in the solitude of the forest, 

Making the humble house and the modest apparel of home- 
spun 

Beautiful with her beauty, and rich with the wealth of her 
being ! 

Over him rushed, like a wind that is keen and cold and 
relentless, 

Thoughts of what might have been, and the weight and 
w^oe of his errand ; ^^^ 

All the dreams that had faded, and all the hopes that had 
vanished. 

All his life henceforth a dreary and tenantless mansion, 

Haunted by vain regrets, and pallid, sorrowful faces. 

Still he said to himself, and almost fiercely he said it, 

" Let not him that putteth his hand to the plow look back- 
wards; 245 



42 THE CRANE CLASSICS 

Though the plowshare cut through the flowers of life to 

its fountains, 
Though it pass o'er the graves of the dead and the hearths 

of the living, 
It is the will of the Lord; and his mercy endureth for- 



t" 



ever I 



So he entered the house ; and the hum of the wdieel and 

the singing 
Suddenly ceased ; for Priscilla, aroused by his step on the 

threshold, ''' 

Rose as he entered, and gave him her hand, in signal of 

welcome. 
Saying, ^^ I knew it was you, w^hen I heard your step in 

the passage ; 
For I was thinking of you, as I sat there singing and 

spinning." 
Awkward and dumb with delight, that a thought of him 

had been mingled 
Thus in the sacred psalm, that came from the heart of the 

maiden, ^^^ 

Silent before her he stood, and gave her the flowers for an 

answer, 
Finding no words for his thought. He remembered that 

day in the winter. 
After the first great snow, when he broke a path from the 

village. 
Reeling and plunging along through the drifts that en- 
cumbered the doorway, 
Stamping the snow from his feet as he entered the house, 

and Priscilla 260 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 43 

Laughed at his snowy locks, and gave him a seat by the 

fireside, 
Grateful and pleased to know he had thought of her in 

the snow-storm. 
Had he but spoken then, perhaps not in vain had he 

spoken ! 
IN^ow it was all too late ; the golden moment had vanished ! 
So he stood there abashed, and gave her the flowers for 

an answer. ^^^ 

Then they sat down and talked of the birds and the 
beautiful springtime ; 

Talked of their friends at home, and the Mayflower that 
sailed on the morrow. 

" I have been thinking all day," said gently the Puritan 
maiden, 

" Dreaming all night, and thinking all day, of the hedge- 
rows of England, — 

They are in blossom now, and the country is all like a 
garden ; 270 

Thinking of lanes and fields, and the song of the lark and 
the linnet. 

Seeing the village street, and familiar faces of neighbors 

Going about as of old, and stopping to gossip together, 

And, at the end of the street, the village church, with the 
ivy 

Climbing the old gray tower, and the quiet graves in the 
churchyard. ^'^ 

Kind are the people I live with, and dear to me my re- 
ligion ; 



44 THE CRANE CLASSICS 

Still my heart is so sad, that I wish myself back in Old 

England. 
You will say it is wrong, but I cannot help it: I almost 
Wish myself back in Old England, I feel so lonely and 

wretched." 

Thereupon answered the youth : ^^ Indeed I do not con- 
demn you; ^^^ 

Stouter hearts than a woman's have quailed in this terrible 
winter. 

Yours is tender and trusting, and needs a stronger to 
lean on ; 

So I have come to you now, with an offer and proffer of 
marriage 

Made by a good man and true. Miles Standish the Captain 
of Plymouth ! '' 

Thus he delivered his message, the dexterous writer of 
letters,— 285 

Did not embellish the theme, nor array it in beautiful 
phrases. 

But came straight to the point, and blurted it out like a 
schoolboy ; 

Even the Captain himself could hardly have said it more 
bluntly. 

Mute with amazement and sorrow, Priscilla the Puritan 
maiden 

Looked into Alden's face, her eyes dilated with wonder, 

Eeeling his words like a blow, that stunned her and ren- 
dered her speechless; 291 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 45 

Till at length she exclaimed, interrupting the ominous 

silence : 
" If the great Captain of Plymouth is so very eager to 

wed me. 
Why does he not come himself, and take the trouble to 

woo me ? 
If I am not worth the wooing, I surely am not worth the 

winning ! '' ^^^ 

Then John Alden began explaining and smoothing the 

matter. 
Making it worse as he went, by saying the Captain was 

busy, — 
Had no time for such things ; — such things ! the words 

grating harshly 
Fell on the ear of Priscilla ; and swift as a flash she made 

answer : 
'^ Has he no time for such things, as you call it, before he 

is married, ^^^ 

Would he be likely to find it, or make it, after the wed- 
ding? 
That is the way with you men ; you don't understand us, 

you cannot. 
When you have made up your minds, after thinking of 

this one and that one. 
Choosing, selecting, rejecting, comparing one with another, 
Then you make known your desire, with abrupt and sud- 
den avowal, ^^^ 
And are offended and hurt, and indignant perhaps, that 

a woman 
Does not respond at once to a love that she never suspected, 



46 The craK"e classics 

Does not attain at a bound to tlie lieiglit to which you have 

been climbing. 
This is not right nor just ; for surely a woman's affection 
Is not a thing to be asked for, and had for only the ask- 
ing. 310 
When one is truly in love, one not only says it, but shows it. 
Had he but waited a while, had he only showed that he 

loved me. 
Even this Captain of yours — who knows ? — at last might 

have w^on me. 
Old and rough as he is ; but now it never can happen.'' 

Still eTohn Alden went on, unheeding the words of Pris- 
cilla, ^'^ 

Urging the suit of his friend, explaining, persuading, ex- 
panding ; 

Spoke of his courage and skill, and of all his battles in 
Flanders, 

How with the people of God he had chosen to suffer afflic- 
tion. 

How, in return for his zeal, they had made him Captain 
of Plymouth ; 

He was a gentleman born, could trace his pedigree 
plainly ^^^ 

Back to Hugh Standi sh of Duxbury Hall, in Lancashire, 
England, 

Who was the son of Ralph, and the grandson of Thurs- 
ton de Standish; 

Heir unto vast estates, of which he was basely defrauded, 

Still bore the family arms, and had for his crest a cock 
argent 



THE COUETSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 47 

Combed and wattled ^£^ules, and all the rest of the 
blazon. ^-^ 

He was a man of honor, of noble and generous nature ; 

Though he was rough, he was kindly; she knew how 
during the winter 

He had attended the sick, with a hand as gentle as 
woman's ; 

Somewhat hasty and liot, he could not deny it, and head- 
strong, 

Stern as a soldier might be, but hearty, and placable al- 
ways, ^^^ 

N^ot to be langhed at and scorned, because he was little of 
stature ; 

For he was great of heart, magnanimous, courtly, courage- 
ous; 

Any woman in Plymouth, nay, any woman in England, 

Might be happy and proud to be called the wife of Miles 
Standish ! 

But as he warmed and glowed, in his simple and elo- 
quent language, ^^^ 
Quite forgetful of self, and full of the praise of his rival, 
Archly the maiden smiled, and, with eyes overrunning 

with laughter. 
Said, in a tremulous voice, ^' Why don't you speak for 
yourself, John ? '' 

IV. 

JOHN ALDEIT. 

Into the open air John Alden, perplexed and bewil- 
dered, 



48 THE CRATTE CLASSICS 

.Rushed like a man insane, and wandered alone by the 
seaside ; ^^^ 

Paced np and down the sands, and bared his head to the 
east-wind, 

Cooling his heated brow, and the fire and fever within 
him. 

Slowly, as out of the heavens, with apocalyptical splendors, 

Sank the City of God, in the vision of John the Apostle ; 

So, with its cloudy walls of chrysolite, jasper, and sap- 
phire, ^^^ 

Sank the broad red sun, and over its turrets uplifted 

Glimmered the golden reed of the angel who measured the 
city. 

'' AVelcome, O wind of the East ! '' he exclaimed in his 

wild exultation, 
" Welcome, O wind of the East, from the caves of the 

misty Atlantic! 
Blowing o^er fields of dulse, and measureless meadows of 

seagrass. 
Blowing o'er rocky wastes, and the grottoes and gardens 

of ocean ! 
Lay thy cold, moist hand on my burning forehead, and 

wrap me 
Close in thy garments of mist, to allay the fever within 

me!''' 
Like an awakened conscience, the sea was moaning and 
tossing. 
Beating remorseful and loud the mutable sands of the sea- 
shore. '^° 



THE COURTSHIP OT' MILES STANDISH 49 

Fierce in his soul was the struggle and tumult of passions 
contending; 

Love triumphant and crowned, and friendship wounded 
and bleeding, 

Passionate cries of desire, and importunate pleadings of 
duty ! 

''Is it my fault," he said, ''that the maiden has chosen 
between us ? 

Is it my fault that he failed, — my fault that I am the 
victor ? " 2^*^ 

Then within him there thundered a voice, like the voice 
of the Prophet : 

" It hath displeased the Lord ! " — and he thought of Da- 
vid's transgression, 

Bathsheba's beautiful face, and his friend in the front of 
the battle ! 

Shame and confusion of guilt, and abasement and self- 
condemnation, 

Overwhelmed him at once; and he cried in the deepest 
contrition : ^^^ 

" It hath displeased the Lord ! It is the temptation of 
Satan ! " 

Then, uplifting his head, he looked at the sea, and be- 
held there 
Dimly the shadowy form of the Mayflower riding at 

anchor. 
Rocked on the rising tide, and ready to sail on the mor- 
row; 
Heard the voices of men through the mist, the rattle of 
cordage ^^^ 

—4 



50 THE CRANE CLASSICS 

Thrown on the deck, the shouts of the mate, and the sail- 
ors' " Aye, aye, sir ! " 
Clear and distinct, but not loud, in the dripping air of the 

twilight. 
Still for a moment he stood, and listened, and stared at 

the vessel, 
Then went hurriedly on, as one who, seeing a phantom. 
Stops, then quickens his pace, and follows the beckoning 

shadow. ^^^ 

" Yes, it is plain to me now,'' he murmured, ^' the hand of 

the Lord is 
Leading me out of the land of darkness, the bondage of 

error. 
Through the sea, that shall lift the walls of its waters 

around me, 
Hiding me, cutting me off, from the cruel thoughts that 

pursue me. 
Back will I go o'er the ocean, this dreary land will 

abandon, ^^^ 

Her whom I may not love, and him whom my heart has 

offended. 
Better to be in my grave in the green old churchyard in 

England, 
Close by my mother's side, and among the dust of my 

kindred ; 
Better be dead and forgotten, than living in shame and 

dishonor ! 
Sacred and safe and unseen, in the dark of the narrow 

chamber ^^^ 

With me my secret shall lie, like a buried jewel that glim- 
mers 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 51 

Bright on the hand that is dust, in the chambers of silence 

and darkness, — 
Yes, as the marriage ring of the great espousal hereafter ! '' 

Thus as he spake, he turned, in the strength of his strong 

resolution, 
Leaving behind him the shore, and hurried along in the 

twilight, 3^^ 

Through the congenial gloom of the forest silent and 

somber, 
Till he beheld the lights in the seven houses of Plymouth, 
Shining like seven stars in the dusk and mist of the 

evening. 
Soon he entered his door, and found the redoubtable Cap- 
tain 
Sitting alone, and absorbed in the martial pages of 
Ca?sar, 395 

Fighting some great campaign in Ilainault or Brabant or 

Flanders. 
^^ Long have you been on your errand," he said with a 

cheery demeanor. 
Even as one who is waiting an answer, and fears not the 

issue. 
^' IsTot far off is the house, although the woods are between 

us; 
But you have lingered so long, that while you were going 

and coming ^^^ 

I have fought ten battles and sacked and demolished a city. 
Come, sit down, and in order relate to me all that has 

happened." 



52 THE CRANE CLASSICS 

Then John Alden spake, and related the wondrous ad- 
venture 

From beginning to end, minutely, just as it happened; 

How he had seen Priscilla, and how he had sped in his 
courtship, ^^^ 

Only smoothing a little, and softening down her refusal, 

But when he came at length to the words Priscilla had 
spoken, 

Words so tender and cruel : " Why don't you speak for 
yourself, John ? '' 

Up leaped the Captain of Plymouth, and stamped on the 
floor, till his armor 

Clanged on the wall, where it hung, w^ith a sound of sin- 
ister omen. ^^^ 

All his pent-up wrath burst forth in a sudden explosion, 

E'en as a hand-grenade, that scatters destruction around it. 

Wildly he shouted, and loud : " John Alden ! you have 
betrayed me ! 

Me, Miles Standish, your friend ! have supplanted, de- 
frauded, betrayed me! 

One of my ancestors ran his sword through the heart of 
Wat Tyler; ^i^ 

Who shall prevent me from running my own through the 
heart of a traitor ? 

Yours is the greater treason, for yours is a treason to 
friendship ! 

You, who lived under my roof, whom I cherished and 
loved as a brother ; 

You, who have fed' at my board, and drunk at my cup, to 
whose keeping 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 53 

I have intrusted my honor, my thoughts the most sacred 
and secret, — ^^^ 

You too, Brutus ! ah, woe to the name of friendship here- 
after ! 

Brutus was Cesar's friend, and you were mine, but hence- 
forward 

Let there be nothing between us save war, and implacable 
hatred ! " 

So spake the Captain of Plymouth, and strode about in 
the chamber, 

Chafing and choking with rage ; like cords were the veins 
on his temples. *^^ 

But in the midst of his anger a man appeared at the door- 
way, 

Bringing in uttermost haste a message of urgent impor- 
tance. 

Rumors of danger and war and hostile incursions of In- 
dians ! 

Straightway the Captain paused, and, without further 
question or parley. 

Took from the nail on the wall his sword with its scabbard 
of iron, ^^^ 

Buckled the belt round his waist, and, frowning fiercely, 
departed. 

Alden was left alone. He heard the clank of the scabbard 

Growing fainter and fainter, and dying away in the dis- 
tance. 

Then he arose from his seat, and looked forth into the 
darkness, 



54 THE CPtANE CLASSICS 

Felt the cool air blow on his clieek, that was hot with the 
insult, *^^ 

Lifted his eves to the heavens, and, folding his hands as 
in childhood, 

Prayed in the silence of night to the Father who seeth in 
secret. 

Meanwhile the choleric Captain strode wrathful away to 
the council, 

Found it already assembled, impatiently waiting his com- 
ing; 

Men in the middle of life, austere and grave in deport- 
ment, '*' 

Only one of them old, the hill that was nearest to heaven. 

Covered wuth snow, but erect, the excellent Elder of Plym- 
outh. 

God had sifted three kingdoms to find the wheat for this 
planting, 

Then had sifted the wheat, as the living seed of a nation ; 

So say the chronicles old, and such is the faith of the 
people ! 445 

Xear them was standing an Indian, in attitude stern and 
defiant, 

IN'aked do^vn to the waist, and grim and ferocious in 
aspect ; 

While on the table before them was lying unopened a 
Bible, 

Ponderous, bound in leather, brass-studded, printed in 
Holland, 

And beside it outstretched the skin of a rattlesnake glit- 
tered, ^^^ 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 55 

Filled, like a quiver, with arrows : a signal and challenge 
of warfare, 

Brought by the Indian, and speaking with arrowy tongues 
of defiance. 

This Miles Standish beheld, as he entered, and heard them 
debating 

What were an answer befitting the hostile message and 
menace. 

Talking of this and of that, contriving, suggesting, ob- 
jecting ; ^^^ 

One voice only for peace, and that the voice of the Elder, 

Judging it wise and well that some at least were con- 
verted, 

Rather than any were slain, for this was but Christian 
behavior ! 

Then out spake Miles Standish, the stalwart Captain of 
Plymouth, 

^Muttering deep in his throat, for his voice was husky with 
anger, ^^^ 

" What ! do 3^ou mean to make war with milk and the 
water of roses ? 

Is it to shoot red squirrels you have your howitzer planted 

There on the roof of the church, or is it to shoot red 
devils ? 

Truly the only tongue that is understood by a savage 

Must be the tongue of fire that speaks from the mouth of 
the cannon ! " ^^^ 

Thereupon answered and said the excellent Elder of Plym- 
outh, 

Somewhat amazed and alarmed at this irreverent lan- 
guage: ; 



56 THE CRANE CLASSICS '• 

" 'Not so thought St. Paul, nor jet the other Apostles ; 

T^ot from the cannon's mouth were the tongues of fire they 
spake with ! '' 

But unheeded fell this mild rebuke on the Captain, ^'*^ 

Who had advanced to the table, and thus continued dis- 
coursing : 

^' Leave this matter to me, for to me by right it pertaineth. 

War is a terrible trade ; but in the cause that is righteous, 

Sweet is the smell of poAvder ; and thus I answer the chal- 
lenge ! " 

Then from the rattlesnake's skin, with a sudden, con- 
temptuous gesture, ^^^ 
Jerking the Indian arrow^s, he filled it with powder and 

bullets 
Full to the very jaws, and handed it back to the savage, 
Saying, in thundering tones : ^' Here, take it ! this is your 

answer ! " 

Silently out of the room then glided the glistening savage, 

Bearing the serpent's skin, and seeming himself like a 

serpent, *^^ 

Winding his sinuous way in the dark to the depths of the 

forest. 

V. 

THE SAILING OF THE MAYFLOWEE. 

Just in the gray of the dawn, as the mists uprose from 

the meadows, 
There was a stir and a sound in the slumbering village 

of Plymouth ; 
Clanging and clicking of arms, and the order imperative, 

"Forward!" 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 57 

Given in tone suppressed, a tramp of feet, and then 
silence. ^^^ 

Figures ten, in the mist, marched slowly out of the vil- 
lage. 

Standish the stalwart it was, with eight of his valorous 
army. 

Led by their Indian guide, by Hobomok, friend of the 
white men, 

N'ortliAvard marching to quell the sudden revolt of the 
savage. 

Giants they seemed in the mist, or the mighty men of King 
David ; ^^^ 

Giants in heart they were, who believed in God and the 
Bible,— 

Aye, who believed in the smiting of Midianites and Phil- 
istines. 

Over them gleamed far off the crimson banners of morn- 
ing; 

Under them loud on the sands, the serried billows, advanc- 
ing, 

Fired along the line, and in regular order retreated. ^^^ 

Many a mile had they marched, when at length the vil- 
lage of Plymouth 

Woke from its sleep, and arose, intent on its manifold 
labors. 

Sweet was the air and soft ; and slowly the smoke from 
the chimneys 

Eose over roofs of thatch, and pointed steadily eastward; 

Men came forth from the doors, and paused and talked of 
the weather, , ^"^ 



58 



THE CRANE CLASSICS 



Said tliat the wind had changed, and was blowing fair for 
the Mayflower; 

Talked of their Captain's departure, and all the dangers 
that menaced. 

He being gone, the tow^n, and what should be done in his 
absence. 

Merrily sang the birds, and the tender voices of women 

Consecrated with hymns the common cares of the house- 
hold. ^^^ 

Out of the sea rose the sun, and the billows rejoiced at 
his coming: 

Beautiful were his feet on the purple tops of the moun- 
tains ; 

Beautiful on the sails of the Mayflower riding at anchor, 

Battered and blackened and worn by all the storms of the 
winter. 

Loosely against her masts was hanging and flapping her 
canvas, ^^^ 

Eent by so many gales, and patched by the hands of the 
sailors. 

Suddenly from her side, as the sun rose over the ocean. 

Darted a puff of smoke, and floated seaward; anon rang 

Loud over field and forest the cannon's roar, and the 
echoes 

Heard and repeated the sound, the signal-gun of depart- 
ure! ^^^ 

Ah! but with louder echoes replied the hearts of the 
people ! 

Meekly, in voices subdued, the chapter was read from the 
Bible, 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 59 

Meekly the prayer was begun, but ended in fervent en- 
treaty I 

Then from their houses in haste came forth the Pilgrims 
of Plymouth, 

Men and women and children, all hurrying down to the 
seashore, ^^^ 

Eager, with tearful eyes, to say farewell to the May- 
flower, 

Homeward bound o'er the sea, and leaving them here in 
the desert. 

Foremost among them was Alden. All night he had 

lain without slumber. 
Turning and tossing about in the heat and unrest of his 

fever. 
He had beheld Miles Standish, who came back late from 

the council, ^"^ 

Stalking into the room, and heard him mutter and mur- 
mur. 
Sometimes it seemed a prayer, and sometimes it sounded 

like swearing. 
Once he had come to the bed, and stood there a moment 

in silence ; 
Then he had turned away, and said : " I will not awake 

him ; 
Let him sleep on, it is best; for what is the use of more 

talking!" 53« 

Then he extinguished the light, and threw himself down 

on his pallet. 
Dressed as he was, and ready to start at the break of the 

morning, — . . 



60 THE CRANE CLASSICS 1 

Covered himself with the cloak he had worn in his cam- 
paigns in Flanders, — 
Slept as a soldier sleeps in his bivouac, ready for action. 
But with the dawn he arose ; in the twilight Alden beheld 

him 
Put on his corselet of steel, and all the rest of his armor, 
Buckle about his waist his trusty blade of Damascus, 
Take from the corner his musket, and so stride out of the 

chamber. 
Often the heart of the youth had burned and yearned to 

embrace him, 
Often his lips had essaved to speak, imploring for par- 
don ; 
All the old friendship came back with its tender and 

grateful emotions; 
But his pride overmastered the nobler nature within 

him, — 
Pride, and the sense of his wrong, and the burning fire 

of the insult. 
So he beheld his friend departing in anger, but spake not. 
Saw him go forth to danger, perhaps to death, and he 

spake not ! ^^^ 

Then he arose from his bed, and heard what the people 

were saying, 
Joined in the talk at the door, with Stephen and Kichard 

and Gilbert, 
Joined in the morning prayer, and in the reading of 

Scripture, 
And, with the others, in haste went hurrying down to the 

seashore, 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 61 

Down to the Plymoutb Eock, that had been to their feet 

as a doorstep ^^^ 

Into a world unknown, — the corner-stone of a nation! 

There with his boat was the Master, already a little 
impatient 

Lest he should lose the tide, or the wind might shift to 
the eastward, 

Square-built, hearty, and strong, w^ith an odor of ocean 
about him, 

Speaking with this one and that, and cramming letters 
and parcels ^^^ 

Into his pockets capacious, and messages mingled to- 
gether 

Into his narrow brain, till at last he was wholly bewil- 
dered. 

Kearer the boat stood Alden, with one foot placed on the 
gunwale, 

One still firm on the rock, and talking at times with the 
sailors. 

Seated erect on the thwarts, all ready and eager for start- 
ing. ^^^ 

He too was eager to go, and thus put an end to his an- 
guish. 

Thinking to fly from despair, that swifter than keel is 
or canvas. 

Thinking to drown in the sea the ghost that would rise and 
pursue him. 

But as he gazed on the crowd, he beheld the form of 
Priscilla 



62 THE CRANE CLASSICS 

Standing dejected, among them, imconscious of all that 
was passing. ^^^ 

Fixed were her eyes upon his, as if she divined his in- 
tention, 

Fixed with a look so sad, so reproachful, imploring, and 
patient, 

That with a sudden revulsion his heart recoiled from its 
purpose. 

As from the verge of a crag, where one step more is 
destruction. 

Strange is the heart of man, with its quick, mysterious 
instincts ! ^'^^ 

Strange is the life of man, and fatal or fated are mo- 
ments, 

AVhereupon turn, as on hinges, the gates of the wall ada- 
mantine ! 

^' Here I remain ! " he exclaimed, as he looked at the 
heavens above him. 

Thanking the Lord whose breath had scattered the mist 
and the madness, 

Wherein, blind and lost, to death he was staggering head- 
long. ^"^ 

^' Yonder snow-white cloud, that floats in the ether above 
me. 

Seems like a hand that is pointing and beckoning over 
the ocean. 

There is another hand, that is not so spectral and ghost- 
like. 

Holding me, drawing me back, and clasping mine for pro- 
tection. 

Float, O hand of cloud, and vanish away in the ether ! ^^^ 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 63 

Roll thyself up like a fist, to threaten and daunt me; 
I heed not 

Either your warning or menace, or any omen of evil! 

There is no land so sacred, no air so pure and so whole- 
some. 

As is the air she breathes, and the soil that is pressed 
by her footsteps. 

Here for her sake will I stay, and like an invisible pres- 
ence ^^^ 

Hover around her forever, protecting, supporting her 
weakness ; 

Yes ! as my foot was the first that stepped on this rock 
at the landing. 

So, with the blessing of God, shall it be the last at the 
leaving ! " 

Meanwhile the Master alert, but with dignified air and 

important, 
Scanning with watchful eye the tide and the wind and the 

weather, ^^^ 

Walked about on the sands, and the people crowded around 

him 
Saying a few last words, and enforcing his careful remem- 
brance. 
Then, taking each by the hand, as if he were grasping a 

tiller. 
Into the boat he sprang, and in haste shoved off to his 

vessel. 
Glad in his heart to get rid of all this worry and 

flurry, ^^^ 



64 



THE CRANE CLASSICS 



Glad to be gone from a land of sand and sickness and 
sorrow, 

Short allowance of victual, and plenty of nothing but 
Gospel ! 

Lost in the sound of oars was the last farewell of the 
Pilgrims. 

O strong hearts and true ! not one went back in the May- 
flower ! 

'No, not one looked back, who had set his hand to this 
plowing ! ^^^ 

Soon were heard on board the shouts and songs of the 
sailors 

Heaving the windlass round, and hoisting the ponderous 
anchor. 

Then the yards were braced, and all sails set to the west- 
wind, 

Blowing steady and strong; and the Mayflower sailed 
from the harbor, 

Rounded the point of the Gurnet, and leaving far to the 
southward ^^^ 

Island and cape of sand, and the Field of the First En- 
counter, 

Took the wind on her quarter, and stood for the open 
Atlantic, 

Borne on the send of the sea, and the swelling hearts of 
the Pilgrims. 

Long in silence they watched the receding sail of the 
vessel, 



TilE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 



65 



Mucli endeared to tliem all, as sometliing living and 

human; ^'' 

Then, as if filled with the spirit, and wrapt in a vision 

prophetic, 
Baring his hoary head, the excellent Elder of Plymouth 
Said, " Let us pray ! " and they prayed, and thanked the 

Lord and took courage. 
Mournfully sobbed the waves at the base of the rock, and 

above them 
Bowed and whispered the wheat on the hill of death, and 

their kindred ^^^ 

Seemed to awake in their graves, and to join in the prayer 

that they uttered. 
Sun-illumined and white, on the eastern verge of the ocean 
Gleamed the departing sail, like a marble slab in a grave- 
yard ; 
Buried beneath it lay forever all hope of escaping. 
Lo! as they turned to depart, they saw the form of an 

Indian, ' ^^o 

Watching them from the hill ; but while they spake with 

each other. 
Pointing with outstretched hands, and saying, '^ Look ! " 

he had vanished. 
So they returned to their homes; but Alden lingered a 

little. 
Musing alone on the shore, and watching the wash of the 

billovv's 
Round the base of the rock, and the sparkle and flash of 

the sunshine, ^^^ 

Like the spirit of God, moving visibly over the waters. 
—5 



66 THE CRANE CLASSICS 

VI. 

PRISCILLA. 

Thus for a while he stood, and mused by the shore 

of the ocean, 
Thinking of many things, and most of all of Priscilla; 
And as if thought had the power to draw to itself, like 

the loadstone, 
Whatsoever it touches, by subtle laws of its nature, ^^^ 
Lo ! as he turned to depart, Priscilla Avas standing beside 

him. 

"Are you so much offended, you will not speak to me ? '' 

said she. 
"Am I so much to blame, that yesterday, when you were 

pleading 
Warmly the cause of another, my heart, impulsive and 

wayward. 
Pleaded your own, and spake out, forgetful perhaps of 

decorum ? ^^^ 

Certainly you can forgive me for speaking so frankly, for 

saying 
What I ought not to have said, yet now I can never 

unsay it; 
For there are moments in life, when the heart is so full 

of emotion. 
That if by chance it be shaken, or into its depths like 

a pebble 
Drops some careless word, it overflows, and its secret, ^"^^ 
Spilt on the ground like water, can never be gathered to- 
gether. 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STA]S"DISH 67 

Yesterday I was shocked, when I heard you speak of Miles 

Standish, 
Praising his virtues, transforming his very defects into 

virtues. 
Praising his courage and strength, and even his fighting 

in Planders, 
As if by fighting alone you could win the heart of a 

woman, ^^^ 

Quite overlooking yourself and the rest, in exalting your 

hero. 
Therefore I spake as I did, by an irresistible impulse. 
You will forgive me, I hope, for the sake of the friendship 

between us. 
Which is too true and too sacred to be so easily broken ! " 
Thereupon answered John iVlden, the scholar, the friend 

of Miles Standish : ^^^^ 

"I was not angry with you, with myself alone I was 

angry, 
Seeing how badly I managed the matter I had in my 

keeping." 
" ISTo ! " interrupted the maiden, with answer prompt and 

decisive ; 
^'' ISTo ; you were angry with me, for speaking so frankly 

and freely. 
It was wrong, I acknowledge; for it is the fate of a 

woman ^^^ 

Long to be patient and silent, to wait like a ghost that is 

speechless, 
Till some questioning voice dissolves the spell of its silence. 
Hence is the inner life of so many suffering women 
Sunless and silent and deep, like subterranean rivers 



68 



THE CRANE CLASSICS 



Kunning through caverns of darkness, unheard, unseen, 

and unfruitful, ^^^ 

Chafing their channels of stone, with endless and profit- 
less murmurs/' 
Thereupon answered John Alden, the young man, the 

lover of women: 
'' Heaven forbid it, Priscilla ; and truly they seem to me 

always 
More like the beautiful rivers that watered the garden of 

Eden, 
More like the river Euphrates, through deserts of Havilah 

flowing, ^^^ 

Filling the land with delight, and memories sweet of the 

garden ! '' 
^^Ah, by these words, I can see," again interrupted the 

maiden, 
'' How very little you prize me, or care for what I am 

saying. 
When from the depths of my heart, in pain and with 

secret misgiving, 
Frankly I speak to you, asking for sympathy only and 

kindness, ^^^ 

Straightway you take up my words, that are plain and 

direct and in earnest, 
Turn them away from their meaning, and answer with 

flattering phrases. 
This is not right, is not just, is not true to the best that 

is in you; 
For I know and esteem you, and feel that your nature is 

noble, 
Lifting mine up to a higher, a more ethereal level. ^'^^ 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 69 

Therefore I value your friendship, and feel it perhaps the 

more keenly 
If you say aught that implies I am only as one among 

many, 
If you make use of those common and complimentary 

phrases 
Most men think so fine, in dealing and speaking with 

women, 
But which women reject as insipid, if not as insulting.'' 

Mute and amazed was Alden; and listened and looked 

at Priscilla, ^«^ 

Thinking he never had seen her more fair, more divine 

in her beauty. 
He v/ho but yesterday pleaded so glibly the cause of 

another, 
Stood there embarrassed and silent, and seeking in vain 

for an answer. 
So the maiden went on, and little divined or imagined ^^^ 
What was at w^ork in his heart, that made him so awkw^ard 

and speechless. 
" Let us, then, be what we are, and speak w^hat we think, 

and in all things 
Keep ourselves loyal to truth, and the sacred professions 

of friendship. 
It is no secret I tell you, nor am I ashamed to declare 

it: 
I have liked to be with you, to see you, to speak with you 

always. ®^^ 

So I was hurt at your words, and a little affronted to 

hear you 



70 



THE CRANE CLASSICS 



Urge me to marry your friend, though lie were the Captain 

Miles Standish. 
For I must tell you the truth : much more to me is your 

friendship 
Than all the love he could give, were he twice the hero you 

think him.'' 
Then she extended her hand, and Alden, who eagerly 

grasped it, ^^^ 

Felt all the wounds in his heart, that were aching and 

bleeding so sorely. 
Healed by the touch of that hand, and he said, with a 

voice full of feeling: 
" Yes, we must ever be friends ; and of all who offer you 

friendship 
Let me be ever the first, the truest, the nearest, and 

dearest ! " 

Casting a farewell look at the glimmering sail of the 

Mayflower ^^^ 

Distant, but still in sight, and sinking below the horizon. 
Homeward together they walked, with a strange, indefinite 

feeling. 
That all the rest had departed and left them alone in the 

desert. 
But, as they went through the fields in the blessing and 

smile of the sunshine, 
Lighter grew their hearts, and Priscilla said very archly: 
" 'Now that our terrible Captain has gone in pursuit of the 

Indians, ^^^ 

Where he is happier far than he would be commanding 

a household, 



THE COUETSIIIP OF MILES STAXDISH 7l 

You may speak boldly, and tell me of all that happened 

between you, 
When you returned last night, and said how ungrateful 

you found me." 
Thereupon ansAvered John Alden, and told her the whole 

of the story,— '^^^ 

Told her his own despair, and the direful wrath of Miles 

Standish. 
Whereat the maiden smiled, and said between laughing and 

earnest, 
" He is a little chimney, and heated hot in a moment ! " 
But as he gently rebuked her, and told her how much 

he had suffered, — 
How he had even determined to sail that day in the May- 
flower, ^^^ 
And had remained for her sake, on hearing the dangers 

that threatened, — 
All her manner was changed, and she said with a faltering 

accent, 
" Truly I thank you for this : how good you have been 

to me always ! '' 

Thus, as a pilgrim devout, Avho toward Jerusalem jour- 
neys, 

Taking three steps in advance, and one reluctantly back- 
ward, ' '^"^ 

Urged by importunate zeal, and withheld by pangs of con- 
trition ; 

Slowly but steadily onward, receding yet ever advancing. 

Journeyed this Puritan youth to the Holy Land of his 
longings. 

Urged by the fervor of love, and withheld by remorseful 
misgivings. 



72 



THE CEANE CLASSICS 



VII. 



THE MARCH OF MILES STANDISH. 

Meanwhile the stalwart Miles Standish was marching 
steadily northward, ^^^ 

Winding through forest and swamp, and along the trend 
of the seashore, 

All day long, with hardly a halt, the fire of his anger 

Burning and crackling within, and the sulphurous odor of 
powder 

Seeming more sweet to his nostrils than all the scents 
of the forest. 

Silent and moody he went, and much he revolved his dis- 
comfort ; "^^^ 

He who was used to success, and to easy victories always, 

Thus to be flouted, rejected, and laughed to scorn by a 
maiden. 

Thus to be mocked and betrayed by the friend whom most 
he had trusted ! 

Ah! 'twas too much to be borne, and he fretted and 
chafed in his armor! 

^^ I alone am to blame," he muttered, " for mine was 

the folly. '^^ 

What has a rough old soldier, grown grim and gray in the 

harness, 
Used to the camp and its ways, to do with the wooing of 

maidens ? 
'Twas but a dream, — let it pass, — let it vanish like so 

many others ! 
What I thought was a flower, is only a weed, and is 

worthless ; 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 73 

Out of my heart will I pluck it, and throw it away, and 
henceforward '^'^^ 

Be but a fighter of battles, a lover and wooer of dangers ! " 

Thus he revolved in his mind his sorry defeat and dis- 
comfort, 

While he was marching by day or lying at night in the 
forest, 

Looking up at the trees and the constellations beyond 
them. 

After a three days' march he came to an Indian en- 
campment '^^^ 
Pitched on the edge of a meadow, between the sea and 

the forest; 
Women at work by the tents, and the warriors, horrid with 

warpaint. 
Seated about a fire, and smoking and talking together; 
Who, when they saw from afar the sudden approach of the 

white men. 
Saw the flash of the sun on breastplate and saber and 

musket, ^^^ 

Straightway leaped to their feet, and two, from among 

them advancing, 
Came to parley with Standish, and offer him furs as a 

present ; 
Friendship was in their looks, but in their hearts there 

was hatred. 
Braves of the tribe were these, and brothers, gigantic in 

stature. 
Huge as Goliath of Gath, or the terrible Og, king of 

Bashan; ^^^ 



74 THE CEANE CLASSICS 

One was Pecksuot named, and the otlier was called Watta- 

wamat. 
Round their necks were suspended their knives in scab- 
bards of wampum, 
Two-edged trenchant knives, with points as sharp as a 

needle. 
Other arms had thej none, for they were cunning and 

crafty. 
" Welcome, English ! '' they said, — these words they had 

learned from the traders '^^^ 

Touching at times on the coast, to barter and chaffer for 

peltries. 
Then in their native tongue they begun to parley with 

Standish, 
Through his guide and interpreter, Hobomok, friend of 

the white man^ 
Begging for blankets and knives, but mostly for muskets 

and powder. 
Kept by the white man, they said, concealed, with the 

plague, in his cellars, "^^^ 

Ready to be let loose, and destroy his brother the red man ! 
But when Standish refused, and said he would give them 

the Bible, 
Suddenly changing their tone, they began to boast and 

to bluster. 
Then Wattawamat advanced with a stride in front of 

the other. 
And, with a lofty demeanor, thus vauntingly spake to 

the Captain : "^^^ 

"^NTow Wattawamat can see, by the fiery eyes of the 

Captain, 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 75 

Angry is he in his heart; but the heart of the brave 

Wattawamat 
Is not afraid at the sight. He was not born of a 

woman, 
But on a mountain, at night, from an oak-tree riven 

by lightning, 
Forth he sprang at a bound, with all his weapons about 

him, ''^ 

Shouting, ^ Who is there here to fight with the brave 

Wattawamat ? ' " 
Then he unsheathed his knife, and, whetting the blade on 

his left hand, 
Held it aloft and displayed a woman's face on the handle, 
Saying, with bitter expression and look of sinister mean- 
ing: 
^^ I have another at home, with the face of a man on the 

handle; '^^ 

By-and-by they shall marry; and there will be plenty of 

children ! '^ 

Then stood Pecksuot forth, self -vaunting, insulting 

Miles Standish; 
While with his fingers he patted the knife that hung at 

his bosom, 
Drawing it half from its sheath, and plunging it back, as 

he muttered, 
"By-and-by it shall see; it shall eat; ah, ha! but shall 

speak not ! ^^^ 

This is the mighty Captain the white men have sent to 

destroy us! 
He is a little man ; let him go and work with the women ! " 



76 



THE CEANE CLASSICS 



Meanwhile Standish had noted the faces and figures 
of Indians 

Peeping and creeping about from bush to tree in the 
forest, 

Feigning to look for game, with arrows set on their bow- 
strings, "^^^ 

Drawing about him still closer and closer the net of their 
ambush. 

But undaunted he stood, and dissembled and treated them 
smoothly ; 

So the old chronicles say, that were writ in the days of 
the fathers. 

But when he heard their defiance, the boast, the taunt, 
and the insult. 

All the hot blood of his race, of Sir Hugh and of Thurs- 
ton de Standish, ^^^ 

Boiled and beat in his heart, and sw^elled in the veins of 
his temples. 

Headlong he leaped on the boaster, and, snatching his 
knife from its scabbard. 

Plunged it into his heart, and, reeling backward, the 
savage 

Pell with his face to the sky, and a fiendlike fierceness 
upon it. 

Straight there arose from the forest the awful sound of 
the war-whoop, ^^^ 

And, like a flurry of snow on the whistling wind of De- 
cember, 

Swift and sudden and keen came a flight of feathery 
arroAvs. 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 



VY 



Then came a cloud of smoke, and out of the cloud came 

the lightning, 
Out of the lightning thunder; and death unseen ran 

before it. 
Frightened, the savages fled for shelter in swamp and in 

thicket, ^ ^'^ 

Hotly pursued and beset; but their sachem, the brave 

Wattawamat, 
Fled not; he was dead. Unswerving and swift had a 

bullet 
Passed through his brain, and he fell with both hands 

clutching the greensward, 
Seeming in death to hold back from his foe the land of 

his fathers. 

There on the flowers of the meadow the warriors lay, and 

above them ^^^ 

Silent, with folded arms, stood Hobomok, friend of the 

white man. 
Smiling at length he exclaimed to the stalwart Captain 

of Plymouth: 
" Pecksuot bragged very loud, of his courage, his strength, 

and his stature, — 
Mocked the great Captain, and called him a little man; 

but I see now 
Big enough have you been to lay him speechless before 

you!'' ' ' ^'' 

Thus the first battle was fought and won by the stal- 
wart Miles Standish. 



78 TPIE CRANE CLASSICS 

When tlie tidings thereof were brought to the village of 

Plymouth, 
And as a trophy of war the head of the brave Watta- 

wamat 
Scowled from the roof of the fort, which at once was a 

chnrch and a fortress. 
All who beheld it rejoiced, and praised the Lord, and 

took courage. ^"^ 

Only Priscilla averted her face from this specter of terror, 
Thanking God in her heart that she had not married Miles 

Standish ; 
Shrinking, fearing almost, lest, coming home from his 

battles. 
He should lay claim to her hand, as the prize and reward 

of his valor. 

VIII. 

THE SPINNING-WHEEL. 

Month after month passed away, and in autumn the 

ships of the merchants ^^^ 

Came with kindred and friends, with cattle and corn for 

the Pilgrims. 
All in the village was peace; the men were intent on 

their labors. 
Busy with hewing and building, with garden plot and with 

merestead. 
Busy with breaking the glebe, and mowing the grass in 

the meadows. 
Searching the sea for its fish, and hunting the deer in 

the forest. ^^^^ 

All in the village was peace; but at times the rumor of 

warfare 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STAWDISH 79 

Filled the air with alarm, and the apprehension of danger. 
Bravely the stalwart Miles Standish was scouring the land 

with his forces, 
Waxing valiant in fight and defeating the alien armies, 
Till his name had become a sound of fear to the nations. *"^ 
Anger was still in his heart, but at times the remorse and 

contrition 
Which in all noble natures succeed the passionate outbreak, 
Came like a rising tide, that encounters the rush of a river, 
Staying its current a while, but making it bitter and 

brackish. 

Meanwhile Alden at home had built him a new habita- 
tion, 840 

Solid, substantial, of timber rough-hewn from the firs of 
the forest. 

Wooden-barred was the door, and the roof was covered 
with rushes ; 

Latticed the windows were, and the window-panes were of 
paper, 

Oiled to admit the light, while wind and rain were ex- 
cluded. 

There too he dug a well, and around it planted an or- 
chard: 845 

Still may be seen to this day some trace of the well and 
the orchard. 

Close to the house was the stall, where, safe and secure 
from annoyance, 

Eaghorn, the snow-white bull, that had fallen to Alden's 
allotment 

In the division of cattle, might ruminate in the night- 
time , ' ! 



80 THE CRANE CLASSICS 

Over the pastures lie cropped, made fragrant by sweet 
pennyroyal. ^^^ 

Oft when liis labor was finished, with eager feet would 

the dreamer 
Follow the pathway that ran through the woods to the 

house of Priscilla, 
Led by illusions romantic and subtile deceptions of fancy. 
Pleasure disguised as duty, and love in the semblance of 

friendship. 
Ever of her he thought, when he fashioned the walls of 

his dwelling; ^^^ 

Ever of her he thought, when he delved in the soil of 

his garden; 
Ever of her he thought, when he read in his Bible on 

Sunday 
Praise of the virtuous woman, as she is described in the 

Proverbs, — 
How the heart of her husband doth safely trust in her 

always, 
How all the days of her life she will do him good, and 

not evil, "^ ««^ 

How she seeketh the wool and the flax and worketh with 

gladness, 
How she layeth her hand to the spindle and holdeth the 

distaff. 
How she is not afraid of the snow for herself or her 

household. 
Knowing her household are clothed with the scarlet cloth 

of her weaving! 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 81 

So as she sat at her wheel one afternoon in the au- 
tumn, «^^ 

Alden, who opposite sat, and was watching her dexterous 
fingers. 

As if the thread she was spinning were that of his life 
and his fortune, 

After a pause in their talk, thus spake to the sound of the 
spindle : 

" Truly, Priscilla," he said, " when I see you spinning and 
spinning, 

N'ever idle a moment, but thrifty and thoughtful of 
others, ^'^ 

Suddenly you are transformed, are visibly changed in a 
moment ; 

You are no longer Priscilla, but Bertha the Beautiful 
Spinner." 

Here the light foot on the treadle grew swifter and 
swifter; the spindle 

Uttered an angry snarl, and the thread snapped short in 
her fingers; 

Wliile the impetuous speaker, not heeding the mischief, 
continued: ^'^^ 

^* You are the beautiful Bertha, the spinner, the queen of 
Helvetia ; 

She whose story I read at a stall in the streets of South- 
ampton, 

Who, as she rode on her palfrey, o'er valley and meadow 
and mountain^ 

Ever was spinning her thread from a distaff fixed to her 
saddle. 



82 THE CRANE CLASSICS 

She was so thrifty and good, that her name passed into a 

proverb. ^^^ 

So shall it be with yoiTr own, when the spinning-wheel 

shall no longer 
Hum in the house of the farmer^ and fill its chambers 

with music. 
Then shall the mothers, reproving, relate how it was in 

their childhood, 
Praising the good old times, and the days of Priscilla 

the spinner ! " 
Straight uprose from her wheel the beautiful Puritan 

maiden, ^^^ 

Pleased with the praise of her thrift from him whose 

praise was the sweetest. 
Drew from the reel on the table a snowy skein of her 

spinning, 
Thus making answer, meanwhile, to the flattering praises 

of Alden: 
" Come, you must not be idle ; if I am a pattern for 

housewives. 
Show yourself equally worthy of being the model of 

husbands. ^^^ 

Hold this skein on your hands, while I wind it, ready 

for knitting; 
Then who knows but hereafter, when fashions have changed 

and the manners, 
Fathers may talk to their sons of the good old times of 

John Alden ! '' 
Thus, with a jest and a laugh, the skein on his hands she 

adjusted. 
He sitting awkwardly there, with his arms extended be- 
fore him, ^^^ 



THE COURTSHIP OP MILES STAT^DISH 83 

She standing graceful, erect, and winding the thread from 
his fingers, 

Sometimes chiding a little his clumsy manner of holding, 

Sometimes touching his hands, as she disentangled ex- 
pertly 

Twist or knot in the yarn, unawares — for how could 
she help it ? — 

Sending electrical thrills through every nerve in his 
body. '''' 

Lo! in the midst of this scene, a breathless messenger 

entered, 
Bringing in hurry and heat the terrible news from the 

village. 
Yes ; Miles Standish was dead ! — an Indian had brought 

them the tidings, — 
Slain by a poisoned arrow, shot down in the front of the 

battle. 
Into an ambush beguiled, cut off with the whole of his 

forces ; ^^^ 

All the town w^ould be burned, and all the people be 

murdered ! 
Such were the tidings of evil that burst on the hearts 

of the hearers. 
Silent and statue-like stood Priscilla, her face looking 

backward 
Still at the face of the speaker, her arms uplifted in 

horror ; 
But John Alden, upstarting, as if the barb of the 

arrow ^^^ 

Piercing the heart of his friend had struck his own, and 

had sundered 



84 THE CRANE CLASSICS 

Once and forever the bonds tliat held him bound as a 

captive, 
Wild with excess of sensation, the awful delight of his 

freedom, 
Mingled with pain and regret, unconscious of what he was 

doing, 
Clasped, almost with a groan, the motionless form of 

Priscilla, ^1^ 

Pressing her close to his heart, as forever his o^vn, and 

exclaiming : 
'^ Those whom the Lord hath united, let no man put 

them asunder ! '' 

Even as rivulets twain, from distant and separate 

sources, 
Seeing each other afar, as they leap from the rocks, and 

pursuing 
Each one its devious path, but drawing nearer and 

nearer, ^^^ 

Rush together at last, at their trysting-place in the forest ; 
So these lives that had run thus far in separate channels. 
Coming in sight of each other, then swerving and flowing 

asunder. 
Parted by barriers strong, but drawing nearer and nearer, 
Rushed together at last, and one was lost in the other. 

IX. 

THE WEDDING-DAY. 

Forth from the curtain of clouds, from the tent of 
purple and scarlet, ^^^ 

Issued the sun, the great High-Priest, in his garments 
resplendent. 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 85 

Holiness imto the Lord, in letters of light, on his fore- 
head, 

Eound the hem of his robe the golden bells and pome- 
granates. 

Blessing the world he came, and the bars of vapor be- 
neath him ^^^ 

Gleamed like a grate of brass, and the sea at his feet 
was a laver ! 

This was the wedding morn of Priscilla the Puritan 
maiden. 

Friends were assembled together; the Elder and Magis- 
trate also 

Graced the scene with their presence, and stood like the 
Law and the Gospel, 

One with the sanction of earth and one with the blessing 
of heaven. ^^^ 

Sinij)le and brief was the wedding, as that of Ruth and 
of Boaz. 

Softly the youth and the maiden repeated the words of 
betrothal. 

Taking each other for husband and wife in the Magis- 
trate's presence, 

After the Puritan way, and the laudable custom of Hol- 
land. 

Fervently then and devoutly, the excellent Elder of 
Plymouth ' "^'^ 

Prayed for the hearth and the home, that were founded 
that day in affection, 

Speaking of life and of death, and imploring Divine 
benedictions. 



86 THE CRANE CLASSICS 

Lo ! when the service was ended, a form appeared on 

the threshold, 
Clad in armor of steel, a somber and sorrowful figure I 
^Vhy does the bridegroom start and stare at the strange 

apparition ? ^^^ 

Why does the bride turn pale, and hide her face on his 

shoulder ? 
Is it a phantom of air, — a bodiless, spectral illusion? 
Is it a ghost from the grave, that has come to forbid the 

betrothal ? 
Long had it stood there unseen, a guest uninvited, un- 

welcomed ; 
Over its clouded eyes there had passed at times an ex- 

pression 
Softening the gloom and revealing the warm heart hidden 

beneath them, 
As when across the sky the driving rack of the rain-cloud 
Grows for a moment thin, and betrays the sun by its 

brightness. 
Once it had lifted its hand, and moved its lips, but was 

silent. 
As if an iron will had mastered the fleeting intention. ^^^ 
But when were ended the troth and the prayer and the 

last benediction. 
Into the room it strode, and the people beheld with amaze- 
ment 
Bodily there in his armor Miles Standish, the Captain of 

Plymouth ! 
Grasping the bridegroom's hand, he said with emotion, 

" Forgive me ! 
I have been angry and hurt, — too long have I cherished 

the feeling; ^^^ 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 87 

I have been cruel and hard, but now, thank God! it is 

ended. 
Mine is the same hot blood that leaped in the veins of 

Hugh Standish, 
Sensitive, swift to resent, but as swift in atoning for 

error. 
Never so much as now was Miles Standish the friend 

of John Alden." 
Thereupon answered the bridegroom : " Let all be for- 
gotten between us, — ^^^ 
All save the dear old friendship, and that shall grow 

older and dearer ! " 
Then the Captain advanced, and, bowing, saluted Priscilla, 
Gravely, and after the manner of old-fashioned gentry in 

England, 
Something of camp and of court, of town and of country, 

commingled. 
Wishing her joy of her wedding, and loudly lauding her 

husband. ' ^'^ 

Then he said with a smile : " I should have remembered 

the adage, — 
If you would be well served, you must serve yourself, 

and, moreover, 
]^o man can gather cherries in Kent at the season of 

Christmas ! " 

Great was the people's amazement, and greater yet 

their rejoicing, 
Thus to behold once more the sunburnt face of their 

Captain, ^^^ 

Whom they had mourned as dead ; and they gathered and 

crowded about him. 



88 



THE CRANE CLASSICS 



Eager to see him and hear him, forgetful of bride and of 
bridegroom, 

Questioning, answering, laughing, and each interrupting 
the other, 

Till the good Captain declared, being quite overpowered 
and bewildered. 

He had rather by far break into an Indian encamp- 
ment, ^^^ 

Than come again to a wedding to which he had not been 
invited. 

Meanwhile the bridegroom went forth and stood with 

the bride at the doorway. 
Breathing the perfumed air of that warm and beautiful 

morning. 
Touched with autumnal tints, but lonely and sad in the 

sunshine, 
Lay extended before them the land of toil and priva- 
tion; ^«5 
There were the graves of the dead, and the barren waste 

of the seashore, 
There the familiar fields, the groves of pine, and the 

meadows ; 
But to their eyes transfigured, it seemed as the Garden 

of Eden J 
Filled with the presence of God, whose voice was the 

sound of the ocean. 

Soon was their vision disturbed by the noise and stir 
of departure, ®^^ 

Eriends coming forth from the house, and impatient of 
longer delaying. 



LcfC. 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 89 

Each with his plan for the day, and the work that was 

left uncompleted. 
Then from a stall near at hand, amid exclamations of 

wonder, 
Alden, the thou^'htful, the careful, so happy, so proud of 

Priscilla, 
Brought out the snow-white bull, obeying the hand of its 

master, ^^^ 

Led by a cord that was tied to an iron ring in its nostrils, 
Covered with crimson cloth, and a cushion placed for a 

saddle. 
She should not walk, he said, through the dust and heat 

of the noonday; 
Nay, she should ride like a queen, not plod along like a 

peasant. 
Somewhat alarmed at first, but reassured by the others, 
Placing her hand on the cushion, her foot in the hand of 

her husband, ^^'^ 

Gayly, Avith joyous laugh, Priscilla mounted her palfrey. 
^^ Nothing is wanting now," he said with a smile, " but 

the distaff; 
Then you would be in truth my queen, my beautiful 

Bertha ! " 

Onward the bridal procession now moved to their new 
habitation, '''^ 

Happy husband and wife, and friends conversing to- 
gether. 

Pleasantly murmured the brook, as they crossed the ford 
in the forest, 

Pleased with the image that passed, like a dream of love 
through its bosom, 



90 THE CRANE CLASSICS 

Tremulous, floating in air, o'er the depths of the azure 

abysses, 
Down through the pjolden leaves the sun was pouring his 

splendors, ^^^^ 

Gleaming on purple grapes, that, from branches above 

them suspended, 
Mingled their odorous breath with the balm of the pine 

and fir-tree. 
Wild and sweet as the clusters that grew in the valley of 

Eshcol. 
Like a picture it seemed of the primitive pastoral ages, 
Fresh with the youth of the world, and recalling Rebecca 

and Isaac, ^^^^ 

Old and yet ever new, and simple and beautiful always. 
Love immortal and young in the endless succession of 

lovers. 
So through the Plymouth woods passed onward the bridal 

procession. 



NOTES. 



3. Cordovan. From the city of Cordoba, Spain, noted for the 
leather prepared there. 

8. Corselet. A breastplate and backpiece forming a protection for 
tlie upper part of the body. 

Sivord of Damascus. Damascus in Syria is one of the oldest 
cities in the world. The swords made here were once famous not 
only for their remarkably fine temper, but for the artistic figures 
and mystic characters wroupjht in the blade. The secret of their make 
is now largely a lost art. 

1-20. Miles Standish was at this time about thirty-six years of 
age, though the description seems to make him older. He had evi- 
dently left England for the Netherlands to fight with the Dutch 
against Spain. In Holland he had met his compatriots, the Puritans, 
cast his fortunes with them, and embarked as one of their number 
for the New World. John Aldcn, at this time about twenty-one, had 
joined the Pilgrims when their vessel touched at the port of South- 
ampton. 

19. " While yet an abbot, Gregory's interest had been awakened 
by the fair faces and flaxen hair of a group of Saxon youths exposed 
for sale in the slave-market at Rome. * Who are they ? ' he asked. 
'Angles,' was the reply. ' It suits them well,' he said; * with faces so 
angel-like.'" {Painter, History of English Literature.) 

20. The Mayflower. The name of the vessel that carried the Pil- 
grims to America. 

28. Arcahucero. A Spanish word, originally meaning archer, now 
generally equivalent to musketeer. 

22-33. The pictures given of their personal appearance is com- 
l)leted and reinforced by the first words the two men speak. Com- 
pare the character indications of 25-30 and 32, 33. 

52. Sagamore, sachem. These words are the titles of Indian 
chiefs, the former being a subordinate, the latter a principal chief. 

Poio-woic, an Indian medicine-man. 

53. Indian names. 

(91) 



92 THE CKAK-E CLASSICS 

61. Rose Standish. "In Young's Chronicles of the Pilgrims, Bos- 
ton, 1841, is a note thus: 'Jan. 29, dies Rose, the wife of Captain 
Standish.' In William Bradford's History of Plymouth Plantation 
is recorded: 'Captain Standish his wife dyed in the first sickness, 
and he maried againe and hath 4 sones lieving, and some are dead.' " 
Cited by Malfroy. 

69. Barriffe's Artillery Guide. An early work on military tactics, 
written by a Puritan, William Barriffe. 

83. The Mayflower started on her return voyage, April 5, 1621. 

85. Priscilla. " Mr. Molines [Mullen] and his wife, his sone and 
his servant dyed the first winter. Only his dougter Priscilla sur- 
vived, and maried with John Alden." (Bradford's History of Plym- 
outh Plantation.) 

100. Iberian. Iberia, Spain. This was, however, an Alpine vil- 
lage. As Csesar and his companions were passing through the place, 
they were struck with its poverty and wretchedness. Some one 
mockingly asked whether there were any canvassing for offices there. 
To this Caesar replied : " For my part, I would rather be the first 
among these fellows than the second man in Rome." The account is 
given in Plutarch's Life of Caesar. 

104. Flanders. Allusion to Caesar's campaign against the Nervii, 
who occupied that part of the Netherlands known as Flanders. 

113. This battle is depicted in Caesar's Commentaries, Book II, 
chapter 25, 

136. Since Rose Standish died. See note on line 61. 

140. The loss of her father, mother and brother is mentioned in 
Bradford's History of the Plymouth Plantation. See note, line 85. 

206. Astaroth, Baal. Divinities of ancient Syria, mentioned in 

the Old Testament. Milton refers to them: 

" With these came they, who, from the bordering flood 
Of old Euphrates to the brook that parts 
Egypt from Syrian ground, had general names 
Of Baalim and Ashtaroth, — those male, 
These feminine." 

— Paradise Lost, Bk. I, 419-423. 

210. Mayfloicers. In England this name is applied to the haw- 
thorn ; in America to a trailing plant " having white or rose-colored 
flowers." " The trailing arbutus or raayflower grows abundantly in 
the vicinity of Plymouth, and was the first flower that greeted the 
Pilgrims after their fearful winter." (Whittier.) 



NOTES 93 

212. Children lost in the icoods. The pathetic story of tlie cruel 
destruction of two children by exposure and desertion is told in an 
ancient English ballad: 

" No burial this pretty pair 
Of any man receives, 
Till Robin-red-breast piously 
Did cover them with leaves." 
— From Percy's Reliques of Ancient English Poetry. 

224. The hundredth Psalm. The music to which the words were 
beinof sunor was the same as " Old Hundred." 

232, Many English books and translations were printed by the 
early Dutch printers of Amsterdam and Ley den, notably by the 
Elzivirs of the latter place, 

245. Compare Luke ix: 62. 

248. Jeremiah xxxiii: 11. 

321, In Young's Chronicles of the Pilgrims we read that the 
ancestors of Miles Standish were of a warlike spirit, and that the 
family record can be traced back as far as to Ralph de Standish, 1221. 

324, Crest. The distinguishing mark worn by a knight, usually 
upon the helmet or above the shield. 

Argent. Silver, or resembling silver, 

325, Gules. Of a red color. 
344. Reference to Revelation xxi. 

362. The account is given in 2 Samuel, xi and xii. 

415, Wat Tyler. The leader of an insurrection in London, slain 
by Jean Standuich. This happened under Richard II., about 1381. 

421. You too, Brutus! Notwithstanding the friendship existing 
between them, Brutus conspired against the life of Ctesar. It is 
stated that wdien Brutus advanced to strike him, Ctesar said, "And 
you too, my son! " 

442. Elder of Plymouth. William Brewster (1560-1644). 

481. In this dramatic incident the poet has used the facts as they 
occurred, with very little change. The incident of the rattlesnake- 
skin and the challenge is historic; it took place in 1622. 

496. The plot requires that the choleric Captain should at this 
stage be removed from the presence of Alden and Priscilla, leaving 
the issue in a state of suspense. For this purpose the author finds 
the material of the annals almost ready shaped. The only alteration 
required was to change the time when the expedition under Standish 



94 THE CRANE CLASSICS 

started to relieve the threatened Weymouth Colony. This took place 
in March, 1623, but in the poem it is made to happen in April, 1621. 

572, Adamantine. " By him forbidden to unlock these adamantine 
gates." {Paradise Lost, Book II, 853.) 

559. Alden's position with one foot on the gunwale and one on 
the rock is a striking visualization of a mood. 

597. The shipmaster, like Standish, is not a devout Puritan. 

601. Songs. Not songs, but rather a series of rhythmic sounds 
accompanying their work. 

605. Gurnet Point. A headland at the entrance to Plymouth 
harbor, on the north side. 

606. Before landing at Plymouth the Pilgrims had spent some 
time in looking for a suitable locality. A party of them had gone 
on shore and examined the environs here. They had then met some 
Indians; hence the name, "First Encounter." 

607. Took the ivind on her quarter. Holding a course such that 
the wind struck the vessel at a point " between abeam and astern." 
What must have been the exact course of the vessel? 

626. Like the spirit of God. Reference to Genesis i: 2. 

657. Dissolves the spell of its silence. Old superstition. So in 
Hamlet, (Act I, se. 1, 1. 44,) where Bernardo says, "It [the ghost] 
would be spoke to." 

665. Havilah. Genesis ii: 10-14. 

755. Goliath of Gath. 1 Sam. xvii: 14. 
Og, king of Bashan. Numbers xxi : 33. 

815. The details of this expedition and the resulting encounter 
are taken from Winslow's Relation of Standish's Expedition as given 
in Dr. Young's Chronicles. Here we are informed that such an 
expedition took place in 1623, under command of Captain Standish. 
Other details worked into the poem are also mentioned here: the 
defiance of Watta^vmat (771-781); Pecksuot (783-787); the ob- 
servation of Hobomak (813-815) ; and the grim trophy placed by 
the Captain on the roof of the fort when he returned to the colony. 

828. Merestead. " Meer " and " mear " are old terms, meaning 
boundary. Hence, the plot of ground inclosed by boundaries. 

829. Glehe. Sod or turf. 

846. The original homestead is still owned by the descendants of 



ITOTES 95 

John Alden. It is in Diixbiiry, on the coast, a short distance south- 
east from Boston. 

858-864. An almost literal rendering of verses 11, 12, 13, and 21 
of Proverbs xxxi. 

872. Bertha the Beautiful Spinner. According to one account she 
was the daughter of Burkhard of Swabia. In 921 she became the 
wife of Rudolph II., king of Burgundy beyond Jura. She is repre- 
sented on the monuments of the time as sitting on her throne, spin- 
ning. 

927. A complete description of the garb of a Hebrew high priest 
is given in Exodus, xxviii : 4-43. 

936. Ruth and Boaz. Ruth iv: 10-12. 

943. Lo! ichen the service was ended. It will be interesting to 
note what difference it would have made with respect to a satis- 
factory outcome if the Captain had appeared before the service 
began. 

1013. The valley of Eshcol. It was the part of the Promised Land 
from which the spies brought back a cluster of grapes of marvelous 
size. Numbers xiii: 23^ 24. 



MAR 31 1905 



